The Grande Prairie Cricket Association’s longtime wish just came true during City Council’s Committee of the Whole meeting on September 11th.
Currently, the pitch is located in the Royal Oaks neighbourhood, but during their meeting, council approved the concept of an updated location in the Signature Falls area for the cricket pitch moving ahead to 2025 budget discussions in November.
Cricket has been a hot topic in council chambers for some time, with numerous presentations both for and against expanding the sport in the city.
GPCA Vice President Wagar Khan spoke on the matter during a council meeting back in June, saying cricket is one of the fastest-growing sports in Grande Prairie and serves as a significant driver for diversity, therefore, support from the city is needed for the GPCA to continue expanding its league and programs.
“Year over year we are growing and part of the reason is that there’s a lot of South Asian people and people from all around the world are moving, and they like cricket, they like to play cricket,” he says.
As a result, council also considered supporting the Cricket Association financially, and will now look at buying equipment and tools to better serve the cricket community in Grande Prairie.
