Demand for city cricket pitches outpacing supply: report

A new city report is shedding light on demand for playing time on Calgary's sports fields. It comes as council prepares to debate recreation investments during next month's budget talks. The report says booked cricket pitches are used about 93% of the time. Officials say cricket is the clearest case of demand outstripping supply. One organizer says the field shortage is hurting player development and stopping growth. This was the first year that we've actually had to reject new teams or new applications for teams. in the history of our league that's over 100 years old. The report also looks at Class D baseball and soccer fields, the city's many basic unstaffed fields. Booked ball diamonds are used about 40% of the time. Officials say there's too many undersized diamonds and not enough major-sized fields for high-level play. The report says there's an opportunity here to plan new communities with more full-sized diamonds. This would be our biggest asset here. It doesn't necessarily have stands or bleachers. As you look at Stanley Park, that's still a medium-sized facility. The report is correct in that we don't have nearly enough large-size amenities. Preliminary findings show the city's booked soccer fields are only used about 15% of the time. The city says it's still investigating, but fields may be left vacant to rest between games. Sport Calgary says poor field conditions and a lack of maintenance could be factors. New sports facilities of all kinds, including soccer fields, are needed. And if we don't invest in this space, we will continue to push people and kids out of community sport and participation. Calgary's mayor wants more multi-purpose fields to improve efficiency. Let's make sure that we're building more smartly so that, you know, if there aren't soccer players who want to play on a given field, are there other ways that it can be utilized by other different sports groups? The city says there could be ways to use soccer fields more efficiently before investing in new ones. Brendan Coulter, CBC News, Calgary. Thank you.