When it was announced last week that the Stratford Festival Cricket Team was moving forward with their proposed plan to renovate a portion of Lower Queen’s Park to install a permanent cricket pitch, Emilio Vieira began to get excited.
In the long history that cricket has enjoyed with the Festival’s participation, there has never been a permanent home - Vieira is on the cusp of seeing that happen. A trench will be dug then packed with limestone and then have Astro Turf carpeting laid across it. That will give the sport wicket permanency in Stratford, opening a door to more exposure to the game across what is an already wide base locally.
“There has always seemed to be sport in the shadow of the Theatre - you’ve got a soccer field and baseball diamond right there, and soon we’ll have a cricket pitch,” he said. “In my research, we discovered that people have been playing down in view of the water for almost 150 years - that’s insane!”
Vieira serves as the Festival team’s current captain and, like many before him to hold that post, he’s been lobbying for the space to be turned into a more permanent fixture. The city gave them the official go-ahead in late 2023, and now they’ve moved into the fundraising aspect.
“I’m hoping that we can have it installed and ready to play on by 2025 - the goal is to have matches on it next year,” he said. “We won’t have any add-ons like netting or bleachers to start with because we want this to still be a natural park system so that people can picnic on it or put up the volleyball net. But we play matches there on holiday Mondays, but the city is looking for ways for the local populace to use it. I think the need for that is going to appear very swiftly.”
The target for fundraising is $20,000, and Vieira said that might seem like a modest number but it’s in line with the type of foundation they are eyeing up. He said that a concrete foundation wouldn’t work due to the moisture retention in that part of the park, plus it was cost-prohibitive. The removable turf can be pulled up and replaced if necessary, while the ground under it can be re-packed at any point.
“Based on conversations I’ve had with other municipalities about their facilities similar to this, I think we’re in line with what those are,” he said of the construction value. “But if you look at Brampton, they’ve just built another 18 pitches in the last two or three years. That’s kind of extraordinary. The popularity of cricket has truly been growing exponentially, and the pitches seem to weather Canadian winters without many issues.”
By giving themselves a home base to play on, the Festival team will now be able to grow their tradition of taking on the Shaw Festival in their annual grudge match in comfort, but Vieira sees the project as a potential stimulant to spur growth in the game locally.
“Something like this will absolutely help us grow interest in the game in Stratford as it gives us a home pitch, which will give us a really beautiful harmonization of the history of the town and the theatre with the game,” he said. “Having multiple influences of locals who work together on a project like this will, hopefully help grow things. As the popularity grows and people begin to take notice and participate, then I hope this becomes the sort of spot where people can come and play and have a little shinny that doesn’t have to be too intense. So my hope is that not only does the sport grow in popularity but the facilities rise to meet that need and help aid the sports tourism in the town.”
Vieira said they’ve established a GoFundMe page to help raise money for the project, and their goal is to reach the $20,000 target by early October so they can begin construction.
