Slopitch player bemoans lack of fields

Slopitch player bemoans lack of fields

(This letter was sent to both The Independent & Free Press and members of Halton Hills council.) Dear editor, I've lived in Georgetown for more than 10 years now and I feel fortunate to live in a community that continues to grow but still maintains that small town feel. Having said this there are issues that need to be addressed and the one that I would like to address is the lack of planning when it comes to sports and recreation in this town, in particular the lack of facilities for baseball, soccer and hockey. Being a member of the executive of the Georgetown Slopitch League I'm seeing first-hand the frustration that is building. As some of you may know we are a fair-sized league with more than 1,200 members and for the first time ever we were forced to turn away teams this year because of a lack of facilities (as other organizations I'm sure have experienced)-- a trend that is certain to continue unless our town council changes its ways and begins to look at sports and recreation as something other than a nuisance. Currently we have six diamonds (Gellert and the Fairgrounds) in town and five (Hornby, Glen Williams and Limehouse) out of town at our disposal. This is totally inadequate for a town the size of Georgetown. Other than the three diamonds at the relatively new facility at Gellert in Georgetown South the parks we have are either too small or, in the case of Limehouse, the black flies and mosquitoes make playing almost unbearable. As of now there are no plans to build any new facilities (the Trafalgar Rd. project keeps getting delayed) and the people we vote into office in this town seemingly could care less. The rates continue to rise; the service continues to drop. Even if the Trafalgar project does materialize at some point rumour has it the Fairgrounds will be shut down so we will be no further ahead. Our league has members ranging in age from 18 to some in their 60s. Slopitch is a great game that promotes fitness, community awareness, and camaraderie which can be enjoyed throughout a lifetime. I would ask that our councillors act now and that the voters in Georgetown consider this issue this fall when municipal elections take place. Clayton Browning, Georgetown