If you build it, they will come: Blue Jays building $150K baseball field in Pond Inlet
Kids in Pond Inlet, Nunavut, are going to be playing on a big league-quality field when they suit up for baseball this summer.
The Toronto Blue Jays are installing a new state-of-the art baseball diamond in the hamlet, complete with artificial turf, a new backstop and bleachers.
The team is paying for the $150,000 diamond through the Jays Care Foundation and its Field of Dreams program, which is supporting 15 projects across Canada this summer.
Pond Inlet applied to be part of the program in September and is the only community in Nunavut getting a new field.
"We're looking for organizations that run regular programming, organizations that can tell us the impact of the investment, what impact it will have on the community," explained Robert Witchel, the executive director of Jays Care.
Pond Inlet's application checked all of those boxes. They're expected to use the field for summer camps, after-school programs, and of course, baseball, Witchel said.
Though hardball isn't widely played in the North, softball — fastpitch and slo-pitch — is. Communities hold tournaments throughout the summer and it's common to see groups of kids playing pick-up games in evenings until the snow starts in the early fall.
The Jays Care Foundation runs the Field of Dreams program every year, with applications opening in September. Witchel said he hopes more Nunavut communities apply for next year's program.
