'Game changer': $1.5M all-weather sports fields coming to North Saanich
The dream of having "all-weather" sports fields on the Saanich Peninsula is one step closer to being realized.
Work is set to begin on an estimated $1.5 million project that will see two new turf soccer fields at North Saanich’s Blue Heron Park.
The Peninsula Soccer Association has been working to replace the current grass fields for more than 15 years.
The new turf fields will mean that the more than 900 members of the soccer association will no longer face cancelled practices or game times due to poor field conditions at the facility.
"It's a game changer for the Peninsula [club] because we haven’t had [an all-weather field] before, and now we will," said Peninsula Soccer Association acting president Dale West.
"It means you can play year-round, it means you can have programming that you don’t have to go elsewhere for," he said.
The soccer association has raised more than $600,000 towards the project and has received financial contributions from the Districts of North Saanich, Central Saanich and the Town of Sidney to complete the installation of the all-weather fields.
West says he expects the work on the turf fields to be completed in time for the start of the soccer season in September 2023.
He says the new fields will bring new opportunities for soccer programs and players from up and down the Saanich Peninsula.
"It's for the kids [and] it's going to give those kids an opportunity that the ones before them haven’t had," said West.
"It’s going to mean that anybody can play 24/7, 365 days of the year and going forward everyone in the community will have access to [the facility] and we’re excited that it is happening."
West says the group is continuing its fundraising efforts for other improvements to the facility. He says the association will need to purchase new soccer goals and nets in addition to new player benches.
"We’re definitely doing a lot more fundraising for the additional infrastructure, like the fencing and the benches," he said.
"We’ve got sponsorship packages that we are going to be sending out and we’re hoping for some provincial grant money."
For more information or to donate go to the Peninsula Soccer Association website.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.