It’s a question that, for me, has never been answered in a satisfactory way: Why is the Barrie Soccer Club so supportive of the proposal for a multi-use field east of the General John Hayter Southshore Community Centre?
Leaving aside the environmental, fencing, lighting and other concerns of the more than 7,000 Barrie residents who have signed a petition against the lakeshore location, there is a long list of reasons why the proposed location would seem to be a poor choice from a sports point of view.
The city council report of Sept. 20, 2023, outlined what staff had heard in numerous consultations with community youth groups who might use the field, including those involved in lacrosse, baseball, rugby, soccer and football.
The baseball, softball and rugby groups were less than enthusiastic about the waterfront location, and the Huronia Stallions actually came out as being “not in favour of building up the waterfront and blocking access to the public and favoured a natural and beautiful waterfront.” Furthermore, the organization was dead set against artificial turf because it was too hot to play on in the summer.
As for the Barrie Soccer Club, here is some of what staff heard during that consultation:
- “Each team would like to practise, play locally and host tournaments locally in Barrie.”
- All groups, including soccer, “prefer the convenience of a single location with multiple sport fields, lots of parking and washrooms.”
- The Barrie Soccer Club and the Barrie Rugby Club said there was “a need for more dome time” to avoid having to travel to the Bradford Sports Dome or other indoor facilities in the winter.
- “Barrie Soccer Club sees the waterfront as an ideal centralized location that would help sell the waterfront and showcase their sport, but favours a multi-sport type of area. They would like to have a major central location with stands and a box upstairs so people can view the game from an elevation.”
During his deputation to city council in May supporting the waterfront location, Barrie Soccer Club president Will Devellis talked about how it was costing $300,000 to rent fields at the indoor dome in Bradford over the winter, suggesting that money would be better spent in Barrie.
Here is what the Barrie Soccer Club is actually getting, according to what was outlined in May’s report to council and subsequent decisions:
- A location with one field and no chance for additional fields in the future
- Little seating for fans
- No change rooms
- Washrooms a few hundred metres away
- No dome now or in the future
- A location not on a bus route and with limited nearby parking
- Paid parking
The lack of a dome, a grandstand and change rooms, along with having only a single field, does not bode well for attracting those tournaments.
And, certainly, out-of-town visitors are not going to be happy paying $10 per hour to park, and even less happy when they get a $100 ticket for not paying. Also, the field will not be easily accessible when Lakeshore Drive is closed for other events.
I was on city council a few years ago, when the proposal came forward for a fair-sized stadium for the Barrie Baycats in the same location. I didn’t support that plan, but at least I understood the rationale behind it, giving Barrie a sports showpiece on the waterfront, which could host other events, such as concerts, with an absolutely stunning backdrop that showcased the city.
By contrast, the multi-use sports field being proposed is just a small facility that could be used for, at most, seven or eight months a year, beside a busy road and with little or no view of Kempenfelt Bay or the Barrie skyline.
Wouldn’t the $4.5 million of taxpayers’ money be better spent going toward the type of large, year-round soccer facility residents of Oshawa, Oakville, Vaughan, Brampton and many other cities enjoy?
I’m amazed the Barrie Soccer Club, which does outstanding work for thousands of the city’s youth (both of my sons played, and I was a coach), has chosen this field and location as a hill to die on.
It just doesn’t make sense.
