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West Kelowna Minor Baseball finally sees the light

The local baseball association has stadium lights at its main stadium
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By Matthew Abrey

After over 10 years of public campaigning, fundraising, and applying for grants, West Kelowna Minor Baseball Association finally has stadium lights at its main baseball field.

A game Saturday night at Boucherie Field, between the association’s two U-15 bantam teams, was briefly interrupted at dusk for a field light-up ceremony which was attended by West Kelowna mayor, Doug Findlater, councillor Rusty Ensign and Central Okanagan-Similikameen-Nicola Conservative MP, Dan Albas.

“West Kelowna is a very special place,” said Albas. “Any chance there is to maintain and enhance our parks, particularly for young people, is a very special thing, and from a community standpoint and a youth standpoint, these are wise investments.”

For West Kelowna Minor Baseball Association’s president, Tom Katelnikoff, this is the culmination of over a decade of hard work and persistence.

“For me and for minor baseball in this town, it’s definitely the highlight of my 10 years on the board of directors,” said Katelnikoff, “The lights will literally double the use of the field, allowing us to have two events a night, and that’s just so great for our association.”

The state-of-the-art 8-pole system was built to a premium industry standard, surpassing even NCAA Tournament specifications.

The project was funded in-part through a federal Canada 150 grant in 2017, as well as contributions from the City of West Kelowna, with the final price tag coming in at approximately $400,000.

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