Renamed and revamped local ball diamond set to host provincial tournament

By Steve Hubrecht steve@columbiavalleypioneer.com

The ball diamond down by Pynelogs has been and will be the site of more serious upgrades this year, and now also has a new name reflective of the recreational space’s long history in the community.

When little leaguers take field this spring they will do so not on the ‘Rotary Ball Park’ (as the diamond has been known for the past four decades) or at the ‘Pynelogs Ball Park’ (as it was known before that) but by the new, official moniker of ‘Pynelogs Rotary Ball Park, Field of Dreams’ are what's important for you important for you see how

Invermere council agreed to the new name during its final council meeting of 2022, when the idea for it (along with a general update) was presented by the nonprofit Columbia Valley Little League.

Little League president Julie Brown outlined the story of the space, explaining its origin as Pynelogs Ball Park in 1964. At that time the field came to be though considerable contributions from many community members, including donation of the land to the District of Invermere from the Windermere District Social Service with the caveat that it remain recreational land for community use. In 1981 major upgrades to the ball park were needed, and these were spearheaded by the Rotary Club, which prompted the renaming to Rotary Ball Park.

Flash forward 40 years, and the ball diamond was once again in need of extensive renovation. In response to those need, the Little League has, over the past year, raised more than $256,000 in grants, cash donations and in-kind contributions.

“While precedent was set by Rotary for renaming during substantial renovations, our request is to amalgamate both names to honour the whole history of the ball park,” said Brown during the meeting. Council readily agreed to the new name.

The first significant bit of funding was a $62,000 grant from the Jays Care Foundation (a charity that is part of the Toronto Blue Jays) through its Field of Dream program. Invermere was one of only 16 communities to get the grant, and when the winners were announced live on a Sportsnet broadcast last April, it prompted a lively celebration of local little leaguers gathered in the Rocky River Grill.

That grant, Brown explained, acted as a catalyst for the Columbia Valley Little League to secure other funding.

The upgrades paid for by the $250,000 — some of which are already completed and some of will be undertaken soon — are considerable. The entire infield skin has been replaced with shale, the infield irrigation has been improved, the infield has been levelled and sodded, and the dugouts have been revamped, including new roofing, batten and painting. The outfield fence will be completely replaced this March and new bullpens will be built. Invermere councillors committed the district to replacing the backstop this spring.

The latest bit of funding secured by the Little League was a $101,000 Columbia Basin Trust (CBT) grant which will be used for some key accessibility upgrades, including renovating the washroom to be more accessible; creating accessible concrete pathways to the washrooms; creating a viewing area and spectator hub area; and building an accessible shade structure and press box covering half of one set of bleachers. There will also be a scorekeeping box on top of the shade structure, and covered bike racks (suitable for kids’ bikes, regular bikes, and e-bikes).

Money has been committed from local businesses to pay for a new scoreboard, and the little league is still seeking funding for planned first and third baseline fence replacements.

Looking ahead, the little league is hoping to add a batting complex in the future, and plans to launch coach and player training programs.

Most of the new renovations will be in place by the time Pynelogs Rotary Ball Park, Field of Dreams and the crossroads ball diamonds host the U15 (under 15 years old) East Kootenay Junior tournament on Friday, June 9 through Sunday, June 11. Later on in the summer, those same fields will host a provincial level tournament.

“It’s been a tremendous transformation, not just of the field, but of our whole program,” Brown told the Pioneer. She outlined that the league has grown 50 per cent from its pre-COVID levels “and we have room to grow further.”

Ball players in the league come from throughout the Columbia Valley, not just Invermere, and including the little league games organized in Edgewater. The Columbia Valley Little League is keen to expand its reach as much as possible and to that end is seeking a Canal Flats coordinator.

In March the league will offer a free training program to develop local umpires. It’s a great opportunity, especially for teens looking for some casual work, noted Brown, as they will then get paid to ump league games.

The league has also developed a new logo that features an iconic Columbia Valley species: the osprey. Inspiration for the new logo came from the ospreys that nest in the pole above Dorothy Lake and the Station Pub, right next to the ball diamond, explained Brown. “It actually circles around us on the field,” she noted.

The Columbia Valley Little League has several sponsorship opportunities available for the coming season, including 12 individual team sponsorship (cost is $300 and sponsors get a logo on sleeve of team shirts), 15 small annual sponsorship signs at the Pynelogs Rotary Ball Park, Field of Dreams (cost is $500 for a one-year two-foot by four-foot sign), and five large corporate sponsors (cost is $5,000 for a five years term and sponsors get a large fourfoot by eight-foot sign on the outfield fence).

The Columbia Valley Little League extended thanks to all its 2022 sponsors, emphasizing that their generous donations helped expand the league’s program and provided more opportunities and equipment for young ball players. These sponsors included teams sponsors (Great West, MGM Industries, Fraser Marine, Peak Exteriors, K5 Mechanical, Canadian Mountain Homes, Shift Air, Tegart Farms), Blue Jays grant and sign sponsors (Odyssey, Remax Invermere, Nipika Mountain Resort, Panorama Mountain Resort, JayBird Media, NAPA Autoparts), and donations-in-kind (Max Helmer Construction, Ken Mitchell and family, Home Hardware Invermere, RONA, Mountain Metals and Greg Langton), Gold Digger Excavations, Mac-Neil and Norcon Developments).