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Bases Loaded: Abbotsford Minor Fastball Association decries lack of local field availability

AMFA players may be forced to play in Chilliwack and Mission due to lack of fields locally

The snake plant is renowned as a houseplant for its lack of maintenance required and its ability to survive with very little sunlight or water.

They're known as the perfect addition to a home for forgetful gardeners.

Those within the Abbotsford Minor Fastball Association believe that they could be considered the snake plants within the City of Abbotsford's sporting community.

Despite what they call a lack of fields and substandard facilities, the AMFA has grown exponentially year-over-year for the past decade.

They're also producing top-level players, winning provincial and national championships at several different divisions and sending talent off to colleges all across the continent on scholarships.

The numbers are continuing to climb, with an anticipated 650 girls of all ages expected to register for 2025. That's a jump from 579 last year and not even the pandemic could slow down the AMFA's growth.

The ballooning numbers have left AMFA officials with one burning question – where will these hundreds of girls play?

 

 

Due to the incredible demand, it's being forecasted that some AMFA players will have to go to Mission or Chilliwack for field availability. AMFA officials believe these issues will only increase in the coming years.

Tom Eaton, the AMFA president, has been ensconced in his position for the past 10 years. He believes Abbotsford has the blueprint to be the fastpitch centre of the province and possibly the country, but he said that the City of Abbotsford has failed to build on that potential.

"There is literally nothing holding us back from being the biggest and most well-run association in the province," he said, noting the AMFA has won two of the sport's last three association awards for softball and Eaton himself won the Minor Sports Grassroots Leadership Award by Sport BC. "We're on the radar and not just in the softball world. There have been other minor sport associations contacting me to provide consulting support based on what we've built here."

 

 

Eaton estimates that by the year 2028 there could be as many as 1,000 playing the sport in Abbotsford and those numbers would rival the Abbotsford Soccer Association as the most active in the city. The AMFA's 2009A Outlaws team captured the association's first-ever national crown this summer.

The problem preventing any further growth from happening is field availability. Eaton said he's been talking with the City of Abbotsford's parks and recreation department for years about these issues, but no significant progress has been made on allocating more fields to the AMFA or on building new facilities.

Ellwood Park has been the AMFA's home since 2017, but even that is not totally ideal as they do not have exclusivity on that park. Women's slo-pitch uses the field every Friday and that means every week volunteers are tasked with taking down the AMFA-specific fences. Those fences were purchased by the AMFA for around $30,000 a few years ago.

 

 

Clearbrook Park is the AMFA's secondary field and they also have to supplement by using fields such as Auguston School, Centennial Park and Mill Lake Park. The bigger issue is that fastball requires a flat mound, meaning baseball fields with an elevated mount cannot be used. Eaton said the Mill Lake Park diamond is not up to standards, with visiting teams complaining about it in the past. He also said having U19 and U17 players with college aspirations play at an elementary school diamond diminishes the value of the AMFA.

"Many of our fields don't have bathrooms, limited storage, and we are forced to play on ungroomed infields and unsafe outfields, such as Mill Lake Park," he said. "These conditions are unacceptable for an association of our size and calibre."

Eaton does see one simple solution that could solve a lot of the AMFA's problems – giving his group priority at Exhibition Park. Abbotsford Slo-Pitch has priority over the four diamonds in that facility and has been the primary user for decades. Eaton said he has suggested to the City of Abbtosford that the AMFA be given priority on Exhibition Park, but that request has been ignored. The AMFA does use the park for larger tournaments, but is relegated to other parks the majority of the time.

"Candidly, I think it should be kids over adults, non-profits over for-profits and people from the community over people outside the community," he said, of the usage priority for Exhibition Park. "There should never be a situation like today where the slo-pitch association – which is made up of members from all over the Lower Mainland and are adults – they have the priority on the fields that kids in the community need. The City has refused to give Exhibition Park to us and they say that slo-pitch can't play anywhere else in the community. And I'm telling them we are running out of places, there are no more fields."

 

 

The City of Abbotsford stated that evaluation of field usage and allocation is done through the Sport Field and Sport Court Strategy, community engagement on this new initiative is occurring this fall.

"We understand there is always room for improvement in our service delivery," stated a City of Abbotsford spokesperson. "The new strategy will be used to project the future demand for sports field and sport court types and be used as a guide for upgrading existing amenities for more effective and efficient usage and constructing new sports field and sport court amenities throughout the City. The strategy will identify where we can make improvements to support the use of our existing amenities and will recommend the number and type of new amenities required to serve our growing community."

Eaton said he was involved in a similar community engagement back in 2020. He participated in an online survey, a virtual round table and chatted with consultants. He stated that very little progress was made for the AMFA through those talks and that has continued.

According to the City, their facilities are in high demand and the AMFA is not alone in having to secure facilities in other communities for local athletes. They added that many community sports associations don't adhere to municipal boundaries, making it common to have to secure fields in other communities.

 

 

"While we to strive to fully meet the needs of all our community sports teams and organizations, it has become increasingly challenging, particularly with so many groups requesting the same facilities at the same time," the spokesperson said. "It is not uncommon for a sports team based in one community to book field times in a nearby community."

The City also confirmed that Exhibition Park being transformed into an AMFA facility is unlikely to happen because many other groups use those diamonds. They added that City of Abbotsford has 59 sport fields and the City aims to support all community sports teams and organizations in a fair and equitable manner.

"Over the past 5 to 10 years, the City has made several upgrades to City parks for fastpitch, including new backstops and bleachers at Exhibition Park, storage space renovations and the extension of netting between fields at Ellwood Park, and additional bleachers at Ridgeview Park," they stated.

Eaton said another issue is looking at nearby communities like Langley or Maple Ridge and seeing how they have invested in the sport. Langley's Noel Booth Park alone has six diamonds and the Langley Fastball Association has access to six other elementary fields. Maple Ridge's Albion Sports Complex also has six diamonds and just to the east is Chilliwack's Townsend Park and six more diamonds.

"It's very confusing and very disappointing," Eaton said, of the comparison of Abbotsford to other communities.

 

 

He added that if the City of Abbotsford gave the AMFA primary usage of Exhibition Park that would put them on par with other communities.

"How can you not be giving this association, one of the premier fastpitch associations in the country, a top-rated facility," he said. "Our three neighbouring associations all also have elementary park facilities that are bigger than ours."

Eaton said if he has to go to other communities then he will do it. He said there will be 35 to 40 local teams in 2025 and he will need 12 fields every night from Monday to Thursday and then six more every Friday to Sunday during the fastpitch season.

"The City is going to be forced to make a decision here," he said, noting there are not enough fields for that type of schedule. "Are they going to push kids out of this community and force us to make deals with other communities? I'm not going to cap registration, I'm not going to tell kids that can't play – that's ridiculous. The problem here is that we're making sure that adults play on the best fields and at the best hours and kids are being pushed to the margins."

Eaton said more work should have been done years ago, but it's not too late for the City to correct past decisions.

"Our athletes deserve better," said Eaton. "We just had a record 250 players attend our Outlaws Rep program tryouts; we are not running out of fields; we already have; if the city doesn't take immediate action, we risk losing more than just games—we risk losing the future of our community. Abbotsford Parks and Recreation must recognize the importance of supporting this growing association before it's too late. The time to invest in our youth, the community, and Abby's future is now."



Ben Lypka

About the Author: Ben Lypka

I joined the Abbotsford News in 2015.
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