A wildly successful 50/50 draw allowed the Altona Angels softball organization to make headway on its diamond revitalization effort this summer.
In the end, the pot hit nearly $15,000, split between the winner and the organization.
"We were very excited to get the 50/50 off the ground and be able to show our community members and our business leaders of what our girls, coaches and managers are willing to do to go out there and raise these funds for upgrades to our diamonds," commented fund-raising chair, Brett Falk. "I would say the support was unbelieve on our first kick of the can."
Club president, Rachel Wahl, says their portion of the funds was deposited as the ticket sale money came in, allowing them to get going on the $200,000 effort. This summer, the organization used its half of the money to fully round out the clay diamond and do roof repairs at the Ecole Parkside School diamond and relocate another diamond to Ecole West Park School. The frame has been erected and Wahl says they're waiting on a few details to fall into place before getting work excavating the site to create the full clay playing surface in time for next season.
"It's really amazing. I don't live anywhere near that part of town, and I drive down that street just to look at it," said Wahl. "It's really exciting to see a dream come to reality," she added, noted this has been a long time coming.
This means the Angels will have 4 full clay diamonds to play and practice on for the 2025 season: two at W.C. Miller Collegiate plus the ones at Parkside and West Park.
With the 50/50 now wrapped up, Falk says isn't the last we'll be seeing of the organization's fund raising. The group has now turned its attention to a corporate push called, Dollars for Diamonds, and local business owners can look forward to a visit from the players, coaches and manager in the coming months. The money raised from this will go to turning another two diamonds at Ecole West Park into full clay facilities. That work will happen as the money comes in, explained Falk.
"(This) is a fantastic opportunity for our business community to get involved and support our local youth, to support the girls of our community and give them something that they can be proud of as well," he noted, adding support for this project could have lasting effects into the future.
"When I was younger and I saw the involvement that businesses had on the sports I would play, I remember that now. And so, I think of it as, what are our youth going to remember when they are into the workforce? Which are the businesses they are possibly going to want to work for or support? So, we've got to remember that the donations that are coming in from our local businesses are not only helping the core to raise these funds, but we've also got youth thinking, could these be our potential employers in the future? Could these be my customers in the future?"
With 2024 registration numbers some of the highest the club has ever seen, ringing in at 120 from ages 6 to 19, Wahl says these improvements are needed. In total, there will be 7 seven teams that will travel across the region to compete this year, plus U7 and U9 teams that will only play at home.
The new, proper diamonds will also allow the organization to host many more tournaments which, in turn, will bring economic benefits to the community, stated Falk.
"This is an opportunity get people from outside of the community to come into Altona, to be able to see our town. We've done a great job at our parks, at our arenas, but unfortunately, in the past, we haven't always had the top-tier facilities that we would like for our girls. I think this is a great opportunity for our girls to be proud of hosting tournaments, but also bring folks from outside our community to support our businesses, our restaurants."
Wahl is grateful for the numerous businesses that have already provide support for the effort.
