InsideToronto
Mayor David Miller, together with Etobicoke North Councillor Suzan Hall, held a virtual, indoor groundbreaking Thursday, June 3, afternoon after heavy rains put a damper on Thackeray Park Cricket Ground’s inaugural ceremony.
“Many people here may not know how enthusiastic I am for cricket,” Miller told a crowd of about 100 people at North Kipling Community Centre, explaining that the sport was one of his favourites growing up in England.
“When we emigrated to Canada in 1967 I couldn’t find a place to play (cricket) until high school. I know from my own personal experience that cricket is a game that takes tremendous skill…it’s a sport that teaches the values of sportsmanships, honesty, team play and commitment. And it is also a game that is growing tremendously in Toronto.”
One of the city’s fastest growing sports, cricket, Miller continued, is part of the cultural heritage of thousands of Torontonians – particularly so in north Etobicoke. The sport is now played or in the process of being offered at several local schools, including North Albion Collegiate Institute (NACI), Thistletown Collegiate, West Humber Collegiate and Father Henry Carr at the secondary level, and Smithfield, North Kipling, and Highfield at the elementary level, to name a few.
Akash Shah, the twelfth grade captain of NACI’s cricket team, was on hand at Thursday’s groundbreaking and called the project a big step in the right direction for the future of cricket in Canada.
“Coming from a country with great interest in the sport of cricket, it’s always been a sport of personal interest to me,” he said. “When I came to Canada six years ago I was unaware of the involvement in cricket in this country. In contrast, looking at how things have developed over a period of time and the growing interest in cricket – especially initiatives like Thackeray Park – these are the building blocks for a great future.”
Hall, who was given props by Miller for her determination in making the Thackeray dream a reality, said it was because of young cricketers like Shah that she became resolved to bring an international standard cricket pitch to her community.
“I’m absolutely thrilled this day has finally come,” Hall said, noting the project has taken nearly three years to come to fruition. “It’ll be a great recreational addition to this community, which is not a highly affluent one and where interest in this project has been absolutely astronomical. Our objective, when it’s up and running, is that youth will take priority.”
It was the local, north Etobicoke cricket players and community members who participated on the project’s steering committee, Hall noted, who first brought up the idea for an international standard field “so our youth can learn to play on a level playing field with kids from around the world. This pitch will give our kids a real fighting chance when they’re competing at an international level.”
The cricket grounds are set to be located within the Thackeray Park lands just north of Steeles and Kipling avenues. The city secured the Toronto and Region Conservation Area-owned lands through a lease in perpetuity. The site, which is located on a clean landfill site on the Etobicoke-Vaughan border, was chosen for its easy accessibility by foot, bike, car and transit, Hall said.
Dedicated for hardball cricket, the first phase of the Thackeray Park Cricket project will include construction of the short outfield cricket grounds, featuring natural turf and rolled, clay-based pitches, bleacher seating for more than 300 people, safety netting, a practice net, parking, and landscaping features. Hall said she hopes the grounds will be ready for play by the fall.
The second phase will entail the building of a washroom facility, lighting and an irrigation system.
So far, the city has come forward with $950,000 in funding for the project – $350,000 from Toronto Water’s year-end surplus towards building a sewer into the park for washrooms, and another $600,000 through the Partnership Opportunities Legacy (POL) Fund. The fund provides monies for new social, programming and recreational facilities and other infrastructure improvements in the 13 priority neighbourhoods across the city, with priority given to youth-focused initiatives at the neighbourhood level.
“Young people in this neighbourhood deserve the same opportunity that young people in some other neighbourhoods take for granted,” Miller said. “To me, that’s what the Thackeray cricket oval is all about – it’s about investing in young people who deserve it and most of all it’s about investing in Toronto’s largest growing sport.”
The Thackeray Park Cricket Ground project was also made possible through the generosity of donors, partners, and volunteers from across the community. The Toronto Police Services Board donated $50,000, Ontario Cricket kicked in $10,000, $5,000 was raised at the 2009 Double Wicket Student Challenge tournament at Humber College last November, and another $11,000 or so was donated by the local faith and business communities – for a grand total of $76,000 in community-raised funds.