PONSONBY – It all started in 1968 when Ponsonby Minor Softball had its first season playing at the Angst family diamonds or at Ponsonby School.
Centre Wellington’s own field of dreams has surpassed 50 years of providing a space for home runs, strike outs and game-winning catches.
This past Sunday the Ponsonby Recreation Club celebrated the 50th anniversary of its ball diamonds being opened at a park on a quiet rural road on 2nd Line in Ponsonby.
In 1974, the Bakker family offered 17 acres of land to develop a ball diamond on 2nd Line.
“That property used to be my father’s property and then he made it available to the club to purchase for the cost of what it cost him to tile it back then,” said Shirley Obergan, current president of Ponsonby Recreation Club.
“The community did all the work to install the diamond and the lighting and the fences, it truly is a community park.”
The ball diamond is not municipally-owned but is owned and operated by the Ponsonby Recreation Club which leaves it largely the responsibility of community volunteers.
“Anything that needs to get done, it comes about because the community has stepped forward,” Obergan said. “That’s how it started back in the day and it continues to be that way today.”
These are volunteers like Pat Kurtz, who has four generations of family members who have played baseball or volunteered at the diamond.
Kurtz’s father-in-law was the first president of Ponsonby Minor Softball in 1968 and her husband played on the first team.
“When we moved out here in ‘87 I started playing for the ladies team plus I was helping with my daughter’s tee ball and then I ended up coaching her all the way through til she started playing with me in the ladies’ league,” Kurtz said, adding her husband also coached their son. “Now I have two granddaughters playing at Ponsonby.”
Kurtz said her children used to joke the ball diamond was their second home.
“They say ‘where’s your mom and dad?’ Where do you think? At the park,” Kurtz said.
The ball diamond has gone through a lot of changes over the years, including growing to two full size diamonds from one small one, a practice diamond, batting cage, concession booth and flush toilets.
Much of this is from community and business fundraising but also through grants from the municipality and others.
A countless number of players have used the ball diamonds over 50 years and some have even gone on to play for Team Ontario, Team Canada and the Olympic team according to a write-up by Kurtz.
Registration has gone up and down over the years — Kurtz noted there tends to be an uptick when the Toronto Blue Jays do well — but there’s been another rise since COVID, said Obergan.
“It’s increased from like 222 three years ago and now we’re at 285 participants of minor ball,” Obergan said, adding there’s also a ladies’ league and men’s slow pitch. “The diamonds are used every day, including Sunday.”
Obergan hoped to continue to have a big community impact with the ball diamond like her father pictured all those years ago.
“That was his vision and that’s my vision going forward,” Obergan said. “With the work that we do, we want to ensure that the legacy is there for generations going forward.”
