LIKE A LOADED BAKED POTATO AT WENDY’S, BASEBALL IS BACK!

With the false start of the pandemic-cancelled 2020 season in the rear-view mirror and the 5G microchips fuelling the veins of its players, the Field of Dreamers Cooperative Softball Association made its official debut on a hazy but temperate evening on our familiar confines of SkyDome at Trinity Bellwood Park.

Jim from Logo Magik, our jersey supplier, was on hand with a brand new box of glimmering gold “dreamers” logos adorned on the sleeves with the familiar colours of the five rivers. The Rouge River Rainbow Rebellion bore a familiar fire-engine red, the Credit River Cuties dawned a new Royal Blue, the Garrison Creek Gargoyles sported a fantastic Kelly Green, and the Humber River Habeneros flashed the classic Yellow Gold. We await the Violet jerseys of the Don River Don Don Revolution in Week 2.

In the opening game, the Humber River Habeneros hoped to outspice the defending champion Rouge River Rainbow Rebellion. In the evening matchup, the Credit River Cuties hoped to give the cooties to the stoic Garrison Creek Gargoyles, but could those gothic columns buttress their way to an opening night win?

If you wanna know the results…

READ MORE TO FIND OUT!

Photo Credit: Jenny Chan

Continue reading “July 18th 2021” →

We will be holding a Training Day prior to Opening Day to properly warm up those muscles and practice some softball skills (or learn new skills!) that may have gotten a little rusty over the past many months. We will have skill shares on batting, playing the infield and outfield, followed by two practice games. 

We play at Trinity Bellwoods Park, on the large diamond in the North East corner of the park, North of the skating rink. Just look for the “SkyDome” sign on the fence behind first base.

Please make note of our COVID-19 guidelines for this season.

Training Day Schedule

8:00-8:15pm Arrival – Group Warm Up 
8:15pm Explanation of practice stations
8:15-8:55pm Drop-in hitting, infield and outfield practice
9:00-9:05pm Team meet n’ greet – find your team around the dugout or in the stands!
9:05-9:50pm PRACTICE GAME 1: DON RIVER VS. ROUGE RIVER (with guests from HUMBER RIVER) 
10:00-10:50pm PRACTICE GAME 2: GARRISON CREEK VS. CREDIT RIVER (with guests from HUMBER RIVER) 

Dear Dreamers,

Thank you for your patience as we worked to get information from the City of Toronto with regard to their strategy for parks and facilities moving forward.  

Earlier this week we received word from the City of Toronto that all parks will remain closed until at least June 28th, 2020. Meaning that we will lose at minimum the first 9 weeks of the season.  We will be receiving a partial refund for these weeks from the City of Toronto at some point in the near future (Craig will let folks know when we do). 

As you might expect, there is a chance that restrictions are extended beyond the provisional June 28th deadline and so there is still a chance that we lose all of July, August, and/or the entire 2020 season. 

Regardless of what happens, we are committed to forming our teams for 2020 and building those team spaces as pods of solidarity during and following isolation and physical distancing. Below you will find some information and ideas that the coordinating committee has to bring the magic of the field to you in multiple ways and some other technical details that you might want to know. 

REFUNDS/LEAGUE FEES

Once we receive our partial refund for the 2020 season, the Coordinating Committee will update players on how much we got back and offer refunds to all players who have paid fees for the 2020 season (whatever percentage of the $2700 permit fee that works out)

We are still keeping in reserve funds for t-shirt printing (if and when our season happens), new equipment and first aid/sanitation supplies.

If you would prefer that the league keeps the refunded fees, we will set up a “solidarity fund” pot that can be used at the broader league’s discretion to fund particular individuals/groups in financial need, support front line workers, and/or political struggles emerging out of the pandemic. 

If you feel as though you will need to withdraw from the league for the 2020 season, please let us know and we will refund you your fee and will offer your spot up to folks who are on the waiting list. 

NEW HEALTH & SAFETY PROTOCOLS FOR 2020 SEASON

We will await word from the City of Toronto who will be instituting health and safety guidelines should parks open up after June 28th, 2020, however, we are calling on all of our various players with medical training, scientific backgrounds, and lived experience to send us advice and suggestions with regards to improve our sanitation and safety post-isolation. 

At the minimum, we will institute: 

• New policies on shared equipment (including helmets, gloves, bats)
• Hand sanitizer on site and in dugouts to clean equipment before/after use

We welcome all suggestions and continue to do research to get a sense of what might be feasible should the season start. 

MUTUAL AID 

We are going to work hard to create strong team environments that can act as another social space for you to reach out to teammates and league members for support, social time and organizing!  

Each team will be clustered together with a unique team name/identity and an internal chat group to keep folks up to date.  

VIDEOS & EVENTS

As baseball weather begins to emerge, members of the Field of Dreamers will begin to create YouTube videos that will help you develop specific skills, learn new rules, and train for the upcoming season! 

Any and all videos from league members, subs, and friends of the league especially around baseball/fitness/training/movement work so that we can be physically engaged with each other at least on some Sunday nights! 

We will also be rolling out weekly events during the Sunday 8pm-11pm time slots reserved for our league (beginning May 3rd) so if you wish to contribute to one of these, have suggestions, and/or want to be part of the planning please let us know! 

Some ideas that have already been floated include: 

• Baseball themed movie night
• Name that walk-up song trivia night
• An insider’s look into Field of Dreamer history, stats
• Oral History project on Field of Dreamers
• Learn about the Toronto River’s project! 
• Scavenger Hunts 
• And more!