Cochrane Minor Ball president Corey O'How continues to be frustrated by the conditions of ball diamonds and the lack of larger diamonds for older players.

He says Cochrane still doesn't have any full-size diamonds to accommodate older youth and adults. He's concerned more players will be heading to Calgary to continue the sport.

In addition, he says they weren't consulted on the two future diamonds slated for development in the new Greystone community. He says at 300 feet, they fall about 100 ft. short of the distance recommended by Baseball Alberta from the plate to the centre field fence for older players.

O'How says in the seven years he's been pushing for improvements, little has been done.

He says all of the fences at Mitford Park are broken and none of the gates close properly. At Matt Krol Park, the bleachers are broken, there's exposed metal, and the fences are falling apart.

"It's quite embarrassing when you bring teams in from Edmonton and Lethbridge that play on absolutely beautiful facilities to a place like that. It might not be top-notch, but we could have a little bit of pride in our facilities and put a little effort and a little money into them."

"We have almost 800 members and we're the biggest use of outdoor facilities probably close to soccer, and the amount of money we pay for the diamonds in a year definitely doesn't get put back into the diamonds."

Mitchell Hamm became the new community services director in February 2022 after the position was eliminated by the town four years earlier.

"We have a very good working relationship with Cochrane Minor Ball and our other ball diamond users. With the absence of Community Services for a couple of years, some of those communication lines may have been broken, but I feel like we've done a really good job mending those lines of communication."

Hamm says he appreciates the feedback from O'How.

"Quite frankly, I'm actually very excited that Corey is taking an interest in the maintenance side. I want them to be interested in that. I want them to give us feedback. I think that it's excellent that we have a really good line of communication with all of our users of those spaces, and it's not just baseball. We want our users to feel they are connected to us."

He says they have beefed up their sports field staff this year.

He says it's valuable to hear O'How's comments on the need for full-size diamonds.

"We are engaging in a rec needs assessment this calendar year, and it probably won't be completed until the middle of next year. But generally speaking, that's helping us identify where the needs are at for our community. We want to do that objectively and with quantitative data. I think that's very valuable information."

Hamm says they have many rec users who are looking for increases in resources and amenities, and they remain in regular contact with all of them, including minor ball.

"I think that we want to evolve that conversation with Cochrane Minor so that their needs are being met, and with Horse Creek Sports Park being very high on the ambitions for council, we would like to make sure that the needs of our community are being met. That needs to be done intentionally, proactively, and with all of the taxpayers in mind."

O'How says he's been telling town council about what was coming for five years.

"We have two 15U teams this year and most of those kids are going to move up and where are they supposed to play? The town has known about this since a presentation I gave in 2018 with all this exact same information."

He's concerned that speaking out doesn't help the situation.

"I feel like every time you push back, you just get even less and they just seem to be vindictive about it. Honestly, that's how it seems to work with the town. I bet that I've talked to 50 people that work at or have worked with the Town of Cochrane, and in seven years there's been zero done."

Another shoe dropped when town council recently cancelled the lighting project for the Mitford Park diamonds that have been sought for years to allow more playing time for both minor ball and adult slo-pitch leagues.

Council agreed to cancel the capital project for two reasons. The request for proposal bids came in well above anticipated costs. There is also major concern over their proximity to Fortis high voltage power lines, underground utilities, and a right of way that contains a high-pressured gas pipeline.

The $60,000 in the town's capital budget was reallocated to the Mitford irrigation capital project which has also come in $48,8000 higher than anticipated.

"I mean, honestly, it's just the same thing every year," says O'How. "Oh yeah, we're going to do this, we're doing to do that, we're going to put money in the budget, and then it ends up going somewhere else."