A pair of former Major League Baseball players are changing the landscape of baseball in Dorchester, Ont. Adam Stern and Chris Robinson, who own the Great Lake Canadians (GLC) premier development program are adding a second turf baseball field at the Thames Centre Recreation Complex. “We’re converting a current baseball field by adding turf in the infield and just adding to what we did at Royal Field to give the ability to play more games,” said Stern who is spearheading the project. Royal Field is the only all-turf baseball facility in Ontario, aside from Rogers Centre, and the neighbouring diamond is getting a facelift. This time to save cost, they are only putting artificial surface in the infield because the cause of most rainouts is caused by the flooding of the mound and batter’s box. “You get a good rainstorm, and the infield is done for the day, maybe two days, depending on how much rain we get,” said Robinson. “We’ve had several times up on Royal (Field) where we come off the field and you wait till it stops raining and you go right back on and play. On normal days you’d be done on the for the full day on the natural service. So, it’s a huge game changer.” Stern and his GLC program can get on the turf field as early as February some years and practice into November, whereas grass would not begin until May and end by October at the latest. “The big thing for us is being able to hold provincial and national type events,” said Stern. “Having one main field with Royal being turf, adding this one plus the other ones we have around the area, this is huge to accommodate these types of tournaments.” Stern and his program worked with Thames Centre to build Royal Field with help from the Jays Care Foundation providing some of the turf along with a combination of municipal capital projects and private sponsorships. This time they are fully funding the project with permission from Thames Centre to renovate the diamond. “The thousands of kids we put through Thames Centre alone every year for tournaments. This is a destination spot and it’s a destination because of the turf,” said Stern. He’s seen colleges, universities and even high schools across the United States convert to turf infields. In Alberta, they are pouring money into big complexes, and municipalities are seeing the economic impact. “It’s the quality of games you can play on here that you’re not worried about 6:00 in the morning, weather, rainstorms coming in,” said Stern. “Do you have to cancel? Do you lose tournaments? You saw it this year in St. Thomas with them having to cancel their major tournament.” Stern is thankful that Thames Centre believes in youth sports and has given them free reign to convert the diamond to turf, while adding new dugouts and bleachers. This is privately funded through business, alumni and sponsor donations. “The more support we have, the better we can make the facility and that’s the reality,” said Robinson, who said they are still looking for funding help. Robinson also joked that Stern is the driver of the project and when he says they are doing something, he won’t stop until his vision is complete. He understands what needs to be done to make each player’s experience a memorable one. “You get an energy level when you come out and play on a turf field,” said Stern. “There’s a different level of it and it’s something that I think should be explored more across the province.” Construction is well underway with the turf to grass transition areas being put in this week. Contractors tell CTV News if the weather cooperates, this field could be complete by the end of November. “Hopefully others follow suit and see how they can do it,” said Robinson. “If we can do it in Dorchester, they should be able to do it in some of the bigger centres.”
