The Airdrie Angels Fastpitch Association says ongoing vandalism at a local high school ball diamond is damaging equipment, straining volunteer resources, and raising concerns about future access to shared equipment and facilities.
The St. Martin de Porres High School site has been hit repeatedly this season, with graffiti, pried-open equipment bins, and stolen gear, according to Angels President Brandi Rodericks.
"Typically, all of our diamonds see something along the season, but it's typically pretty minor," Rodericks said. "St. Martin de Porres High School, because I believe in the proximity to the high school and the fact that there's not a lot of neighbors very close by, seems to be the most vulnerable to it."
"The portable toilet company tells me that if the graffiti this season continues as it is, they're not going to be able to continue to clean it, and [the] replacement value that we would be on the hook for is $1,200," Rodericks said.
She said theft is also a recurring problem, with people prying open bin lids and reaching in to steal balls as well as other gear they can access.
"It's not only the fact that the replacement value is hard to manage, but it's also the fact when the team gets there and a lot of the equipment is missing, it's really disruptive."
Each ball costs the organization about $12, even with discounts. Rodericks said the number of balls stolen in a single season can reach 20 or more. Some teams have had to provide their own equipment just to play games.
One longtime volunteer built many of the association’s bins and has spent years repairing and reinforcing them after damage.
"He spent most of the hours going to these bins, maintaining them, fixing them, reinforcing them to try and prevent additional damages and theft," she said.
This spring, the association replaced all bins with new units made of steel and aluminum, chosen in part to address ongoing lid damage.
The league’s recent social media post about the vandalism wasn’t tied to a single incident. Rodericks said the post reflects a broader push toward community engagement, made possible by a newly expanded board.
"Our board has gone from six members to 11 last season, and so I feel like we just have a little bit more time, a little bit more... visibility," she said. "Some of these things, I feel like they’ve happened in the past, but maybe we weren’t so forthcoming in involving the community in prior seasons."
"There wasn’t anything lewd or, you know, bad about it — it was just unfortunate, so we chose not to share that. But that was that same diamond," Rodericks said.
"There was already tagging on the bins that were replaced at the beginning of this season at St. Martin de Porres," she said.
Asked whether the vandalism had been reported to the school, the city, or RCMP, Rodericks said no reports had been made.
"No, not at this time," she said.
She does not believe the association is being deliberately targeted.
"I think it's just young people that just have nothing better to do," Rodericks said. "We didn’t share the vandalism that also occurred to our brand new bins... we put out these brand new bins, and they have a really nice checker plate top, and they took black spray paint and spray painted just 'A' over."
"We do have young ladies as young as five years old that are coming up to these diamonds and wondering, you know, what's going on," she said. "If this continues, we won't be able to provide portable toilets... access to equipment might come under review, and that just means less and less accessibility to these girls who just want to play softball."
In a follow-up email after the interview, Rodericks said the volunteer effort to clean up vandalism is difficult to quantify.
"The words I wanted to use about the cost as well is 'countless volunteer hours' when responding to vandalism and graffiti," she wrote. "It's impossible to put a value on it, as our community just simply responds as required. It really is what we are great at. A lot of us have the same priorities in mind — these girls’ experience is number one."
She added that she recalled a similar theft incident affecting a Little League baseball group several years ago, though she wasn’t certain whether it occurred in Airdrie or Calgary.
Asked what she would say to those responsible, Rodericks said the cost of vandalism ultimately falls back on the players.
"If they just ask around, they might find that a cousin or a sister or... somebody they know plays in this organization," she said. "The more that this happens, it's indirectly going to cost these members more and more."
"We do everything we can to keep our fees as low as we absolutely possibly can, while still delivering an effective softball development program... but this stuff that, you know, just happens because of the carelessness and the disregard and misunderstanding about how it affects everybody involved... it's really unfortunate."
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