Toronto Blue Jays give nearly $300K in baseball diamond upgrades to southwestern Ont. communities

There is a time when the baseball diamond at Kettle Point First Nation was a gathering place for the community.

“It was full, it was loud,” said Kettle and Stony Point Chief Kimberly Bressette. “Even the elders spoke about that, saying that it used to be so loud you could hear it at your house down the road with all the cheering. It really brought our community together.”

However, that time has faded, much like the quality of the facility, and it is long overdue for an upgrade.

"I think that it will be nice to get nicer benches because the wood is a little old and the fence is starting to rust a little over there,” said Sunday George, 12, who plays for the local 13U baseball team.

Things are about to change at the park on Lake Road. The Toronto Blue Jays and the Jays Care Foundation have awarded a $90,000 grant to refurbish the facility.

“That's going to help us rebuild the fencing, the landscaping and the dugouts,” Bressette said. “We're going to work on the bleachers as well. So that's very exciting.”

The dugouts at Kettle Point baseball diamond will be part of the upgrades after the community was awarded a grant by the Toronto Blue Jays and the Jays Care Foundation. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)

Kettle Point isn't the only community in the region to receive a grant. The Municipality of Strathroy-Caradoc received $125,000 and St. Aloysius School in Stratford received $53,000.

At the Gemini Sportsplex in Strathroy, a watch party Tuesday night celebrated as the community learned they were getting funding.

They plan for the money is to take the fields at Alexandra Park and Yorkview Community Park and flip them from baseball to softball.

At Alexandra Park, they will convert the infield from grass to dirt, and add accessible bleachers.

Both will see refurbishment to the dugouts, and backstops.

The money comes at the perfect time.

Community members erupt after the Municipality of Strathroy-Caradoc was awarded a $125,000 grant by the Toronto Blue Jays and the Jays Care Foundation on April 30, 2024. (Source: Strathroy-Caradoc) "We're all facing a bit of a financial crunch,” said Colin Grantham, mayor of Strathroy-Caradoc. “So where are you going to spend your dollars when roads and that needs to be done? Recreation is important, and it's important to keep the kids active. I consider this an investment in our children.”

The grants were part of the $1.5 million annually given away by the Jays Care Foundation’s Field of Dreams program.

Since the inception of the program, $18.5 million has been invested in over 200 fields.

"Especially in the smaller communities raising that type of funding is very, very challenging,” explained Robert Witchell, executive director of the Jays Care Foundation. “So we're very excited to receive applications and provide funding to all sides of communities but particularly more rural organizations where baseball is really a bedrock of the community."

The Jays Care Foundation said nearly 60,000 kids participate in regular active programming and this program that provides safe places for kids to play. 

Alexandra Park in Strathroy, Ont. will receive an infield overhaul and upgrades to the dugouts, backstop, and accessible bleachers will be added. (Source: Brent Lale/CTV News London)