Cricket players are pushing for a permanent pitch in Terrace, billing it as a way to grow the game and make the city a premier sporting location in northern B.C.
Sukhjinder Singh and Simran Mann presented their vision to Terrace council during its regular meeting March 14, which would include installing a permanent 22-yard-long concrete pitch, covered with artificial turf, in a grass field to accommodate the growing sport.
“We started from 16 people and now we have 60 players in Terrace, and we have three different teams [Downtown Dragons, Terrace Thunder and Punjab Panthers],” Singh said at the meeting. “Many community members are joining us, and from 60 it could be 120 next year if I’m not wrong.”
“If we get this opportunity of the cricket pitch in Terrace, after Prince George, Terrace could be the second place to have such a big opportunity.”
According to Singh and Mann, teams in Terrace currently play in the concrete parking lot of the Skeena Valley Guru Nanak Brotherhood Gurudwara on Medeek Ave. The hard and uneven surface is not as safe as grass, and Singh said five players have suffered injuries due to the surface.
Simply using a grass field is not an option, because the ball needs to bounce on a hard surface on its way from the bowler to the batter. Mann said that Terrace’s wet climate means that the soil is too soft for the ball to properly bounce.
Singh and Mann said that a pitch in Terrace would bring teams from across B.C. to compete in the northwest, creating opportunities for the local economy.
“It is very, very interesting, and it’s nice to see such enthusiasm, such growth opportunities as well,” Mayor Carol Leclerc said at the meeting.
Currently, the Terrace league is composed of Coast Mountain College students and adults in the community, but a permanent pitch would allow youth to participate and develop their skills. That would increase the chances of northwest B.C. youth playing at the highest level of the sport in the future, Mann said.
It would also make the creation of a Terrace club team made up of the city’s best players possible. The presenters said that team would be able to represent the city and play competitively across the province.
Council unanimously voted to refer the issue to staff to examine the feasibility of adding a cricket pitch to one of the fields in the city.
READ MORE: Quesnel Kangaroos lead CIHL championship series after win against Terrace River Kings