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THE NEW TANNERTHURSDAY, APRIL 12, 2018 13THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 201812 Ltd. Brokerage www.presswordteam.com • www.burland.ca with The New Tanner Sports By: Harry Rudolfs The Trillium Foundation has awarded a capital grant of $150,000 to the Halton Hills Minor Baseball As- sociation (HHMBA) for the construction of three new multi-use baseball diamonds at Trafalgar Sports Park. HHMBA president Larry Fitzger- ald admitted that much more money still has to be raised for the venture, but this should provide a kick start. "It gets us one step closer to seeing the Field of Dreams a reality." The HHMBA and the Georgetown Slo-Pitch League have been work- ing on the Field of Dreams project with Town staff for the past two years. Fitzgerald says the GSL deserves the credit for getting the ball rolling. "It really took off when we joined forces to work collaboratively with the Town of Halton Hills," he said. The planned diamonds at the Trafalgar Sports Park in Georgetown will allow them to be used for both hardball and softball leagues. Currently there is only one mounded dia- mond in Halton Hills. "This is great news as we have been struggling over the last few years to find enough diamond time, particularly at the older age groups," Fitzgerald added. Participation in soft- ball and hardball leagues among Hal ton Hil ls' youths is at an all-time high, while it has been dropping in other com- munities. The stats that Fitzgerald quotes would indicate Halton Hills resi- dents and youngsters are baseball crazy. "We have seen 41 per cent growth in registration over the past three years. We had to turn away 30 players last year due to lack of diamond time. We expect enrollment to be over 1,000 players this season and these new dia- monds will create at least 60 hours of new diamond time every week." The original master plan submitted by the Town in 2001 called for four dia- monds but only one was completed at the time. The three new diamonds would complete the foot- print, but at what cost? According to Fi tz- gerald, the costs are all estimates at this time and he believes they are con- servative. "The total cost estimate to the town in the last report I saw was $2.2 million. We have cost estimates from contract- ors that came in around $1.5 million but they were rough preliminary estimates. We are seek- ing to raise $537,000 for the effort on behalf of the HHMBA and GSL, and we have $337,000 com- mitted so far, so we are well on our way." Fitzgerald added that he had known about the grant approval for some weeks but couldn't go public. "The Trillium Foundation asked us to sit on it until they had everything in or- der. There has been a lot of behind the scenes work over the last two years that continues, including meet- ings with Town staff and fund-raising." Trillium grant for new diamonds CURLING CHAMPS: The 2017-2018 curling season concluded with the Ladies League Champions: Alex Jewell (left), Lisa Cunningham, Shannon Crowe, Jess ica Walsh. Not pictured are the Mens League Champions: Peter Keller, Richard Dobbs, Pat Osborne, Brad Frazer and the Mixed League Champions: Mike MacDonald, James Hamilton, Ann Hamilton, M i c h e l l e M a c D o n a l d . - Submitted photo The Peewee, Bantam (King), Minor Midget and Midget Select teams participated in the Stoufville Year Ender Bender Tournament. The Midgets won the finals 4 to 0 over Ajax, and The Bantams won 4 to 3 over Halton Hills Thunder. Before their games, both the Bantam and Midget teams had a moment of silence for the Humboldt Broncos hockey team. - Submitted photo The Sunny Acre Farms Halton Hills Thunder Midget AA hockey team travelled to Prescott March 23 to 25 for the 45th Leo Boivin International Midget AAA showcase tournament. The entire team played exciting hockey to win the Dr. Peters championship . - Submitted photo