Holdfast hits home run with Toronto Blue Jays grant

One of Holdfast’s ball diamonds has been in need of refurbishment for a long while, but the village is getting some help thanks to a grant from the Toronto Blue Jays.

Last month, Holdfast was awarded the ‘Field of Dreams’ grant from the Toronto Blue Jays’ Jays Care Foundation. The grant helps refurbish and build baseball diamonds across the country.

The village 100 kilometres northwest of Regina was one of 14 communities selected for the grant program.

Kids on Holdfast’s U-9 team pose by the dugout with their Toronto Blue Jays hats. (Gillian Massie/980 CJME)

Holdfast’s baseball program includes about 60 kids on five teams. Cody Ermel has been coming out to coach in Holdfast for the past five years.

“It’s amazing to see a bunch of kids come together from a bunch of small towns,” he said.

“I get a lot of enjoyment of teaching those kids.”

Lora Bast applied for the grant as the village’s baseball program continues to draw in kids from neighbouring communities.

“Our program has grown, and we needed some space for them to play some of their games on,” she said. “We needed more space to be able to host next-level tournaments.”

Lora Bast (left) said it makes her happy to see her daughter Bridget playing on a revitalized baseball diamond. (Gillian Massie/980 CJME)

She said the grant will help complete the renovations on one of the community’s diamonds. The grant will pay for approximately $6,000 in improvements, including tin for the dugouts, safety caps for the fence and a small bleacher.

Before the renovations, Bast said the baseball diamond looked like a farmer’s field.

“There was a backstop. That was it,” she said. “There was a backstop when I was a kid. This was a diamond without the fence.”

Seven-year-old Ford Ermel remembers playing on the old field.

“It was rocky and it hurt more when you slid,” he said.

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Bast first applied for the Field of Dreams grant in 2022, but was rejected.

“They said ‘We want to help you finish your project, not start your project,’” Bast explained.

Through a series of fundraisers and donations, the village was able to put $50,000 into refurbishing the diamond. In 2023, she said new shale was put down on the field and a fence was ordered.

With renovations in progress, Bast re-applied for the grant with success.

“It was excitement and happiness,” Bast said. “A lot of work went into that grant.”

Kids head onto the field for practice in Holdfast. (Gillian Massie/980 CJME)

Ian McLellan, mayor of Holdfast, said the upgrades bring the possibility of hosting larger tournaments in the village.

“Its amazing. We’ve got such a rebirth coming into town right now,” McLellan said. “A lot of kids are involved in baseball again, and I haven’t really seen it that way since I was young.”

McLellan’s two children are not quite old enough to play yet, but he said he’s happy they will have the opportunity to use the field when they grow up.

“I’m really excited to see where this goes,” he said. “There’s so many kids that are finding passion in baseball.”

Playing ball is one of seven-year-old Tenley Tait’s favourite things to do.

“It’s fun, and I like to hit the balls,” she said.

She said her favourite position to play is third base, because she can see the whole field.