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th ei fp .c a Th e IF P -H al to n H ill s | T hu rs da y, A pr il 12 ,2 01 8 | 42 Select 2018 dates available. CONTACT: Melanie Frazer 905.877.5236, Ext: 400 mfrazer@nhgcc.ca www.nhgcc.ca BOOK YOUR 2018 TOURNAMENTBOOK YOUR 2018 TOURNAMENTBOOK YOUR 2018 TOURNAMENT t 2018Selec ble. availadates TCONTAC : FrazerMelanie xt: 400.5236, E905.877 .ca@nhgccmfrazer gcc.cawww.nh Select 2018 dates available. CONTACT: Melanie Frazer 905.877.5236, Ext: 400 mfrazer@nhgcc.ca www.nhgcc.ca @YOUR LEISURE Visit theifp.ca for more coverage Taking a much different path than his older brother, Josh Dick- inson has nonetheless realized a dream of signing a professional contract beginning with the 2018- 19 season after coming to terms with the National Hockey League's Colorado Avalanche on Thursday. The 20-year-old local native and former Georgetown Raider is leaving Clarkson University after his freshman year to sign with the Avalanche and for the rest of the season he is on an amateur tryout with the team's American Hockey League affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage, who play in Cleveland Friday night. "Extremely excited to sign my first NHL contract with Ava- lanche!" Dickinson tweeted Thursday morning. "Thank you to my family, friends and Clarkson hockey for the help and support to get me here." The six-foot-two, 200-pound undrafted centre had 15 goals and 11 assists in 40 games with Clark- son this season as the Golden Knights were ranked in the top five of Division 1 NCAA schools for most of the year. Dickinson spent three years with his hometown Jr. A Raiders, racking up 56 goals and 86 assists in 142 games, while leading the club to a Buckland Cup Ontario Junior Hockey League champion- ship last spring alongside line- mate Jack Jacome of Caledon and the duo continued their success at Clarkson this past season. There's a possibility that the Christ the King Catholic Second- ary School graduate might suit up against 22-year-old brother Jason on the final weekend of the AHL's regular season as the Rampage is slated to face the Texas Stars in a home-and-away series April 13-14. Jason played four years with the Ontario Hockey League's Guelph Storm and was team cap- tain in his final season. He was a first-round draft pick (29th over- all) of the Dallas Stars in 2013 and played 27 games with the NHL team in 2017-18, registering two as- sists, before being returned to Texas this past week. Josh Dickinson signs with Colorado Avalanche Georgetown's Josh Dickinson signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Colorado Avalanche Wednesday and will join the NHL club's American Hockey League affiliate in San Antonio for the rest of the season. Jim Meagher/Clarkson University EAMONN MAHER emaher@theifp.ca After being approved for a grant this past week, the Halton Hills Field of Dreams project has moved a base closer to coming to fruition, said the president of the local youth baseball association. The Halton Hills Minor Base- ball Association (HHMBA) and its co-applicant, the Georgetown Slo- Pitch League (GSL), will receive an Ontario Trillium Foundation cap- ital grant worth $150,000 and com- bined with fundraising efforts, the plan is to construct three new mul- ti-use diamonds at Trafalgar Sports Park (TSP), which could be ready for use in 2020. "(The grant) gets us one step closer to seeing the project a real- ity. The HHMBA and GSL have more fundraising to complete, but this certainly is a huge step," said HHMBA president Larry Fitzger- ald, who estimates the cost of the project will come in at around $2.8 million. "As for timeline, the grant re- quires that we start the build with- in six months and finish it within one year of starting, so we will need to start construction this fall and complete it by next fall in order to complete the contractual obliga- tions of the grant." The demand for diamond time from local ball user groups is well documented. HHMBA registra- tion has skyrocketed in the past three years to approximately 1,100 in 2018 and the organization had to turn away 30 kids last year, with growth rates expected to continue at about a 10 per cent clip, Fitzger- ald added. The GSL is one of the larger slo- pitch associations in Ontario with more that 1,200 signed up and other groups such Halton Hawks' Girls Fastpitch and Georgetown Powder Puff softball also pining for more play time. The original master plan drawn up by the Town of Hal- ton Hills in 2001 called for a four-di- amond complex at TSP, yet only one was built. Apartnership was struck up be- tween the town, the HHMBA and GSL in December The project would progress in two phases, with construction on the three diamonds to begin later this year. Phase 2, slated to get underway in 2020, would include a perma- nent concession building with washrooms. However, in order for a detailed design of the Field of Dreams Joint Project to move ahead, council must give approval of a detailed fi- nancial strategy by the user groups and fundraising targets have to be met. The groups have committed to raising $772,000 for the town-fi- nanced project along with the Tril- lium grant, as well as generating $20,000 per year through capital levies, $10,000 per season from the Sweet Spot concession stand at the fairgrounds, $45,000 through cor- porate and local business contri- butions and $10,000 via town-ap- proved banner advertising on out- field fences. A recent poker fund- raiser in Acton drew a full house, generating just under $14,000 for the project. Field of Dreams diamond project receives $150,000 Trillium grant EAMONN MAHER emaher@theifp.ca If all goes well, this could be an image that local residents get used to seeing at Trafalgar Sports Park in Halton Hills in time for the 2020 baseball season. Matt Pasant photo