Children who are all itching to get outside and play their favourite sports will need to wait a little longer as many fields are still closed; an unfortunate side effect of Calgary’s long hard winter.
A number of leagues have already sent out letters to parents, indicating that they have had to cancel games and re-schedule the start of their seasons.
Rajat Karval, the vice-president of the Calgary and District Cricket League, says that the extended winter has meant more work for them.
“We’ve had to do more maintenance tasks on the pitches in Calgary which, because of the snow just getting cleared, got delayed a little bit. Our season got pushed back slightly.”
Karval says his season usually starts on April 25 but most of the season openers in the league have now been pushed into May.
“Usually we’re out playing practice games but not today. It’s pretty cold and sloppy with water still in some areas. Not really the best conditions.”
He says that through the winter, there are some indoor facilities that they can use, but nothing beats the open space of the outdoor pitches.
“There is a big following for cricket in Calgary. We are trying to get more facilities for better cricket to happen. There is definitely a lot of demand and a lot of shortage.”
There are about 1,700 people involved in the city’s cricket league with about 80 teams involving all ages of players.
For more information on the CDCL, you can visit the official website.
(With files from Jordan Kanygin)
