Sport Field and Sport Court Strategy

Project Overview

The City of Abbotsford is developing a Sport Field and Sport Court Strategy that will guide how the City invests in and provides these valued assets over the next 15+ years. The Strategy will:

• Identify priorities for capital investment (renewed and new fields and courts);
• Identify opportunities to improve management and other experiential qualities of the inventory;
• Identify potential collaborations; and
• Provide City Council and staff with a point of reference that can inform and guide future decision making and resource allocation.

The City of Abbotsford has approximately:

• 53 sport courts in its current inventory that support basketball, tennis, pickleball, volleyball, lacrosse, and ball hockey as standalone amenities or in multi-sport court configurations.
• 51 grass fields
• 5 synthetic turf fields and,
• 3 mini synthetic turf fields that in its current inventory support soccer, baseball, softball, rugby and cricket as standalone amenities or in multi-sport field configurations.

The population of Abbotsford is projected to increase by 50,000 citizens in the next +/- 15 years. As the City continues to grow, the demand for new and improved sport fields and sport courts increases. Along with changes in population and demographics comes shifts in the popularity of individual sports.

Facilities Included in the Strategy

• Sport field(s) - includes rectangular fields used for activities like soccer, football and rugby, field hockey, and field lacrosse as well as ball diamonds used for baseball, fastball, and softball.
• Sport court(s) - includes basketball courts, pickleball courts, ball hockey courts, tennis courts and lacrosse boxes and sand volleyball courts.
• Wheeled sport facilities - includes skateparks and bike parks.
• Disc golf courses - usually played in multi-use parks and trails networks, that have amenities (baskets, discs, signage) to support disc golf play.
• Other outdoor sport infrastructure- includes lawn bowling, bocce, and horseshoe pitches typically played in parks and open spaces.

Community Involvement

The Strategy additionally presents an opportunity to revisit and refresh sport field and sport courts priorities identified in the City’s Parks, Recreation & Culture Master Plan & Strategies (2018) and other subsequent planning.

Community engagement with residents and facility user groups is very important to the development of the Strategy. The information gathered through your input and other related research (population and demographics analysis, benchmarking, facility reviews, etc.) will provide insight into the above noted topics and ensures that potential priorities have been identified using an informed and balanced approach.