Victoria Park has been the home for softball in Ayr for over 50 years. It had been a number of years since any major changes to the ball diamonds had been done.
In 2013, AMSA received a donation from the estate of Earl Sage. Earl was a long time resident of North Dumfries Township and a strong supporter and contributor to the sport of softball. It was his generous donation that lead Ayr Minor Softball to begin investigating options and costs for upgrades to the Victoria Park ball diamonds. During this process it became evident that applying for an Ontario Trillium Foundation grant would help AMSA make the most of Mr. Sage’s generous donation. In mid March of 2014, Ayr Minor Softball received notification that our application for a Trillium grant was successful and that we had been awarded $98,400 to use for renovations to the diamonds at Victoria Park. Upon hearing of our planned upgrades to Victoria Park, the Ontario Rural Softball Association offered AMSA an additional donation to pay additional tribute to Earl Sage’s contributions to ORSA and softball in Ontario.
Due to the extraordinarily rainy summer of 2014, renovations to the diamonds did not begin until September 2014. Fencing was removed and grass growing around the old fence line was dug away. Next the alignment and positioning of the diamonds was adjusted to improve the spacing. New fencing was installed including new pitching warm-up areas at the small diamond to allow young pitchers a safe place to practice. Just days before the first snow fall, the new clay infield was in place. The crew from 2015 marked the first full season of ball on the diamond as well as the dedication of the large diamond as Sage Field.
Click Here to see images of the Large Diamond renovations
Click Here to see images of the Small Diamond renovations
