We have all heard the famous quote from the baseball movie Field of Dreams that says: “Build it and they will come.” Well, thanks to a generous donation from the Toronto Blue Jays Foundation, Amherst Little League’s years of dreaming of a new field is finally coming true! Amherst is one of 16 lucky communities in Canada to receive a grant from this important program in 2022, and 1 of only 2 here in Nova Scotia. According to the Blue Jays official website: “Field Of Dreams is Jays Care’s granting program for infrastructure dedicated to youth life-skill development and physical activity.
The Field Of Dreams program provides funding to design, refurbish and build safe spaces for children and youth to play baseball, develop life skills and learn from positive role models. In the past 10 years, Jays Care has invested more than $15 million in 145 safe spaces across 10 provinces and two territories.”
Member of Parliament for Cumberland-Colchester, Dr. Stephen Ellis, proudly stood up in the House of Commons in Ottawa recently to share this great news with MP’s and leaders from around the country.
Struggling to contain his joy and excitement about the great news, Ellis said: “For almost 75 years, Amherst, Nova Scotia has been the home of many incredible baseball players and volunteers, which has allowed this community to enjoy many championships and banners. Given their incredible community spirit and desire to move to evening programming, the enrollment for little league baseball soared.”
After announcing the large financial grant, our MP went on to say: “This of course is a testimony to the strength of their volunteers, and players, and the history of baseball over the last 75 years.
Congratulations to the Amherst Little League Baseball Association, and to the many young people who will benefit from their involvement in little league baseball over the many seasons to come.”
Click HERE to watch the video of our MP sharing the news, and try not to smile at the end when he finishes his speech so emphatically.
Amherst Little League has been doing great work in Cumberland County since 1955 and has provided free baseball to children aged 4-12. They will be using the funds to build a new accessible T-ball field in the near future, and we are excited to watch their progress.
If you would like to get involved as a volunteer or you’d like to sign-up your kids, you can call the clubhouse at (902) 667-7160 or visit their website at amherstlittleleague.ca.
We were delighted to hear this news for multiple reasons. Of course having Amherst and Cumberland County talked about on a national stage is always advantageous to our goals to thrive as a county, but just as importantly, it is the fact that our youth will benefit so greatly from improved infrastructure and a renewed passion in local sports. Grants like this gets the community and volunteers excited to be involved and allows everyone outside of the sport to take greater pride in our community and the facilities we have to offer.
Not only that, but our children will have the opportunity to learn important life skills such as leadership, work ethic, dedication and commitment – which can all easily be transferred from lessons learned through sports to vital personality traits that will guide them towards a brighter future.
So on behalf of Cumberland, we want to send a huge THANK YOU to all of the organizers, volunteers and families involved with making this happen, and for the Toronto Blue Jays Foundation for blessing our community with this much needed grant that will benefit us all!
The Amherst Little League Association fought for a new field for our kids and they won – now they will build it, and then they will come!
LET’S PLAY BALL!
