After years of planning and work, the first accessible baseball diamond in Atlantic Canada is officially open for business in Moncton.
The field boasts Astroturf that prevents craters and dust, as well as flat mounds, a new scoreboard and wheelchair accessible dugouts.
“We adapted it so everybody feels like they're part of the same team, not excluded,” says Charline Allain-Godin, manager of the Field of Dreams. “Benches basically tilt up so they can actually sit back with the other kids, so there are a lot of obstacles that are no longer there.”
The field will give players with physical and cognitive disabilities home field advantage.
“I can't sleep at night, I'm so excited,” says Field of Dreams player Brent Daborn. “We're just so thankful and so honoured to have our own field now.”
The idea of accessible fields is catching on. Similar baseball programs exist across the Maritimes, and the Moncton branch is already fielding calls from Nova Scotia about another field potentially being built in Antigonish.
It's also spurred the City of Moncton to work on making two other parks accessible.
“There's no limits, you know?” says Field of Dreams player Jamie Vautour. “People can't judge us to say, ‘You can't play a sport,' when you can play a sport.”’
Field of Dreams is already aiming to host events like the Challenger Baseball Jamboree, which could bring ten other teams from around the Maritimes to the Hub City.
But for now, players who have waited nearly a decade for this day are ready to play barrier-free ball on a field of their own.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Cami Kepke.
