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OTTAWA- After four weeks of voting, Canada’s Favourite Ballpark contest is down to four parks. This week we have Week 1 winner, Seaman Stadium in Okotoks, AB taking on Week 2 winner, Port Arthur Stadium in Thunder Bay, ON.

The ballpark that receives the most votes by August 15th at 10am ET will advance to the Final Round!

Best of Luck to both ballparks!

PLAY BALL!

Seaman Stadium – Okotoks, AB

Canada’s Favourite Ballpark” has to be Seaman Stadium in Okotoks, Alberta. What makes Seaman Stadium unique is that it is a $10M, state of the art facility including a year round training center (“Duvernay Fieldhouse”), new midget diamond (“Tourmaline Field”) and 2 Bantam sized diamonds, all 100% non-profit and dedicated to amateur and youth baseball. There is nothing like Seaman Stadium in the world!

Seaman Stadium is the centerpiece of summer activities in the area. More than 4000 fans (20% of the population) attended the Canada Day 2010 Dawgs game. An average of 2223 fans, (10% of population) attend every Dawgs’ game. Dawgs support 100’s of charities and youth groups. Dawgs Baseball at Seaman Stadium raised more than $85,000 for Breast Cancer and was recognized by Baseball America as North America’s “Top Community Project”.

Seaman Stadium was featured in the Globe & Mail, Sportsnet, Ballpark Business, and various Alberta media.

One visual demonstration of why Seaman Stadium has to be “Canada’s Favourite Ballpark”. The “Our Town” video includes participation of local organizations in the community, including the Mayor of Okotoks, the Rotary Club, Okotoks Minor Baseball, police, firemen, emergency services, elementary and high schools…the list goes on.

Port Arthur Stadium – Thunder Bay, ON

In the post World War II era, Port Arthur and Fort William were full of hope and optimism. Louis St.Laurent was PM. The Leafs beat the Habs in five to win the Cup. And after 2 years of work and a staggering budget of $200,000, the Port Arthur Stadium was open.   It eclipsed the McKellar Park and Queen’s Park diamonds in its shear audacity. With it cement grandstand, dressing rooms and permanent refreshment stands; it was a thing of envy. 

Opening day - July 16th, 1951 – 4,000 fans packed the Stadium to see a local all star team slug it out with the New York Bengals (St. Louis Browns rookie squad) and it has hosted cross-town rivals under the lights ever since.

It was initially home to a six-team league featuring many NHL players home for the summer. In recent years the stadium hosted the 1980’s Canada Summer Games, Canadian Senior Little League Championships, the Northern League’s WhiskeyJacks, The Northwood League’s Border Cats, warm up events for the World Juniors and most recently the wildly successful 2010 World Junior Baseball Championships.

You can feel it when you walk through the gates - Port Arthur Stadium is one of Canada’s gems.

 


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