Jays Care Funding could bring added accessibility to Cambridge’s Kin 1 Diamond

Upgrades may soon be up to bat for Cambridge’s Kin 1 softball diamond as council is officially set to apply for Jays Care funding in hopes of increasing accessibility through new developments.

This comes following a recent Cambridge City Council meeting on Oct. 8, which saw various leaders, parents, and youth speak to the beneficial changes that could come with possibly becoming a new Jays Care Foundation Field of Dreams. The charity aims to promote extracurricular programs in schools across the country.

“Right now, we make our facilities work because, well, that’s what we do. They don’t fully meet the needs of the players,” says Head Coach and League Coordinator with Waterloo Region’s Buddy League, Cam Linwood. “The field we use was designed for athletes who don’t have the same physical or sensory limitations that ours do. When we play on this diamond, our athletes and families can often feel like guests, not like they truly belong. It sends a subtle but difficult message; this space wasn’t made for you.”

Linwood continued to speak about the importance of Buddy League, which is an adaptive baseball league for children and adults with special needs in Waterloo Region.

“When people feel like they belong to a team, they begin to believe in every aspect of their community. They start to believe that they can succeed in school or work, they can make friends, they can dream big. For parents, the joy of seeing their child find a place where they are not only accepted, but celebrated, is immeasurable. This is more than just a sports program. It’s a movement that uplifts the entire family, ultimately our entire community.”

He goes on to say upgrading Kin 1 field would directly benefit their league, further providing the players with an accessible space, but he also says it would have ripple effects throughout the whole of the community.

“While this project may be our ‘field of dreams’, we’re not standing here saying, “if you build it, they will come.” We’re already here. Through this project, we believe that so many more in our community will benefit from that support.”

The foundation has funded 163 ball diamonds across Canada through its Field of Dreams program, saying it has supplied over $ 15 million in funding across those projects during that time. It says the program works to support designing, refurbishing, and building local baseball diamonds across the country, with a focus on creating safe and inclusive spaces.

Some of the closest cities that have previously been named as recipients of funding include Strathroy and Stratford, along with Scarborough’s Roy Halladay Field —  Toronto’s first fully accessible baseball diamond.

“We walked into an absolutely beautiful facility,” said Jason Nadeau, a parent whose son plays in Buddy League, who spoke of the team’s previous visit to Roy Halladay Field. “Fully accessible, no barriers, no height differences between the fields and the dugouts. You could easily just get to it, easily access it. The dugouts, big wide spaces with shade. I was amazed. It really truly opened my eyes to what an adaptive baseball field means.”

Nadeau says the current field conditions have not only harmed the integration of current players but also hindered the possibilities for others in the community.

“We would see the different kids joining our program over the years, and you’d see more and more with mobility issues, and they would struggle to simply get on our fields in some of the fields we were playing.”

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“I think if we want to create a city that all of our residents can believe in, we need to ensure that they have that sense of inclusivity and belonging.”

Ward 7 Councillor, Scott Hamilton

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Some of the major issues Nadeau sees in the current conditions of the ball diamond include the amount of potholes in the parking lot, the large puddles that form on rainy days, loose gravel on the pathways and condensed dugouts. He says it was tough not to leave Roy Halladay Field with thoughts of what could be developed locally.

“I left that day thinking that we needed a field like that to call our home. It takes away all the barriers for an athlete with mobility issues to play baseball. It also showed me how inaccessible Kin 1 is today.”

The motion introduced to council was designed to be exactly that: an introduction to develop the stepping stones of making such a project feasible. The current plans would be expected to cost upwards of $3 million, with the funding possibly covering $150,000 towards those costs.

“I think if we want to create a city that all of our residents can believe in, we need to ensure that they have that sense of inclusivity and belonging,” said Ward 7 Councillor, Scott Hamilton. “The one thing I really learned tonight was the element of social connection and how powerful that is for players, for families, for coaches.”

Council unanimously approved a motion that would see it apply for funding through the Jays Care Foundation to aid in developing the diamond, along with deferring the project to next year’s budget through a multi-phased system. This would involve creating possible sponsorship campaigns and allowing council to focus efforts on a need-by-need basis.

“Ultimately, this might be the most cost-effective direction in the long term while also increasing the highest probability to play for all of our residents as soon as possible. If we want an inclusive city where everyone belongs, I think we need motions and amendments just like this.”

If approved through the Jays Care Foundation, the project would need to be completed within 12 to 18 months of receiving funding approval.

“I’m in favor of moving forward with it because a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,” said Hamilton. “If we have opportunities in front of us, let’s go forward.”