Community rallies to restore flooded baseball facility for Abbotsford Cardinals

When Coleton Besse got the call that his team's baseball field and training centre were pooling with water on the evening of Nov. 15, he raced over with shovels.

The plan was to dig a trench around their prized indoor facility at Del Air Park in Abbotsford — but within minutes the ground had become fully submerged.

"By 9 p.m., there was six, seven feet of water," he told CBC News. "There was baseballs scattered all over the place that just floated around ... even on the field, we had benches that floated from the infield to the outfield."

The facility is one of thousands of structures in the region flooded by historic rainfall that drenched the region during an atmospheric river event in November.

Weeks later, the water is gone and the damage is done. Coleton, the head junior coach of the Abbotsford Cardinals, says it's unclear just how much everything will cost to repair or replace — but the team will be getting some much-needed help from the community.

After setting up an online fundraiser, the team has raised nearly $56,000 to restore the facility known for developing high performance players, many of whom have been drafted by Major League Baseball teams. The money will go toward replacing turf, cages and equipment.

"Between the baseball community, Abbotsford as a whole, we got a lot of money very quick, which was amazing to see that people cared about us and cared about these kids," said Besse.

Prized facility

The Abbotsford Cardinals are members of the British Columbia Premier Baseball League, a high-perfomance league for players aged 14 to 18. The team has won multiple championships and 11 of its players have been drafted into the MLB.

The team attributes much of its success and the development of its players to its indoor facility, which allows them to practice hitting, pitching, and defence year round. It's shared with the Yale Baseball Academy and 9 Innings Baseball, a youth development training program.

Riley Kwak, a Cardinals shortstop with the goal of one day being drafted by an MLB team, says the facility is crucial to their training and competitive edge.

"Over the off-season, most players will tone down whereas we keep working, and that's where we stand out," said the 15-year-old.

Kwak was playing baseball at the site the morning before the floods and says he was surprised to see it submerged just hours later.

"I was pretty scared, actually. It was pretty tough to see the facility go down, and all of our training we get to do. We don't get to do that anymore," he said.

Baseball community

The Cardinals have nearly met its $60,000 fundraising target for repairs. The team was able to lower its target after the training facility was assessed and cleared of any structural damages.

They hope to have it restored by early next year. For now, practices have been relocated, with other clubs in the region lending their facilities. Some players from Chilliwack were unable to make it to practice for a number of weeks because of highway closures.

With three teams under the Cardinals banner, Besse says each of them has been to one practice per week.

It's not what they're used to, but Besse says they'll take it — and that the support has been overwhelming.

"Spending all the time that we do here, we don't think that people are paying attention or noticing, but clearly they are and its amazing to see," he said.

"Ninety-nine per cent of these kids in our program are trying to get a scholarship for baseball," said Besse. "It is a game, but it's a lot more for these kids, so it's awesome to see the community think that as well."

With files from Jeremy Allingham