A Cambridge baseball diamond has reopened after a multi-million-dollar transformation aimed at making the facility accessible to athletes of all abilities. The KIN1 diamond at Riverside Park officially reopened Saturday, giving players in the city’s growing Buddy League an accessible field designed around their needs. The celebration included exhibition games, family-friendly activities, a ribbon cutting and the unveiling of a new donor wall, recognizing those who contributed to the facility. For Buddy League athlete Kristen Saroli, the reopening means having a place to play alongside her friends. “I’m just excited to play with my best friends and have fun and win. Obviously, to crush it,” she said, laughing. The field previously presented several barriers for athletes with mobility challenges, including a gravel parking lot and pathways, inaccessible washrooms and a grass playing surface that could be difficult to navigate. Shane Taylor, the city’s manager of recreation, placemaking and capital projects, said the previous facility simply wasn’t designed with accessibility in mind. “The old gravel parking lot, the path, the washrooms weren’t accessible... the grass field wasn’t really great for accessibility,” Taylor said. The renovation includes paved accessible pathways, synthetic turf, widened dugouts, accessible seating and renovated washrooms. Buddy League coordinator, Cam Linwood, said the goal was to make it possible for athletes to get from the parking lot to the field without barriers. “The idea that you can now get from the parking lot to the field without any barriers... and then you can come out here and play baseball no matter how you’re showing up, you have the opportunity to sort of experience exactly what it means to really play a sport barrier free,” Linwood said. The project was budgeted at about $3.025 million. Nearly $830,000 in contributions came from donors and community partners, including $171,559 from the Jays Care Foundation through its Field of Dreams program. The Jays Care funding supported accessibility improvements including the synthetic turf, widened dugouts and accessible bleachers. “One of our greatest goals is that everyone feels like they belong,” Meghan Saundercook of the Jays Care Foundation told CTV News. “Young kids are going to be able to play on this field for many, many years to come. And I think that’s a beautiful thing.” Buddy League, an adaptive baseball program, has also grown significantly since it launched in 2018. The league started with about 40 athletes and now has approximately 140 players across three levels. Linwood said the new facility could help the program continue to grow. “So now with this field and this facility, really the opportunities are limitless to grow the program,” he said. For Saroli, the importance of Buddy League extends beyond baseball. She said that after her injury, she once worried she might never meet anyone like herself. “Now that I know there’s people like me, I just feel so much better,” she said. The city said the diamond will be available for regular community use in spring 2027. “The KIN1 Accessible Ball Diamond will help ensure athletes of all abilities have a welcoming place to play, connect and build lasting memories right here in Cambridge,” Mayor Jan Liggett said in a media release. “While athletes may experience the game in different ways, the feelings it creates are universal: the excitement of competition, the exhilaration of movement and the pure joy that comes from being on the field.”
