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Dig them dugouts

With Whitehorse set to host the Softball Federation Women’s World Championships next year, renovations had to be done this season, said Softball Yukon’s executive director George Arcand.
softball

The Pepsi Softball Centre is getting its four dugouts dug out.

With Whitehorse set to host the Softball Federation Women’s World Championships next year, renovations had to be done this season, said Softball Yukon’s executive director George Arcand.

And it was something that had to be done sooner or later, he said.

“They served their purpose for 30 years, but they’re past their prime,” said Arcand. “The other ones are old, too small, starting to fall apart and the concrete is deteriorating, so it’s time they need to be upgraded.”

The new dugouts will be more than half metre wider and almost three metres longer.

They’re also being raised up to ground level to solve the perennial problems with water seepage.

The improvements to the centre include the dugouts, new fencing and several other small improvements.

“Some of it we’re planning for, then you turn around and find something else,” said Arcand. “It’s just regular maintenance and upgrading,”

In total, the renovations will cost around $25,000.

All the money comes from the association’s fundraising efforts.

“We were pretty aggressive this winter in raising funds,” said Arcand. “We needed a significant amount of money to put on the Worlds, but also extra money in case there’s any upgrades.”

Putting on the world championships will cost a lot of money, but Softball Yukon doesn’t plan on doing much fundraising this summer.

“We try to get everybody to take the summer off from fundraising and let the players have a good time” he said.

The renovations are scheduled to wrap up this week, just in time for the Team Canada’s Senior Women’s Fast Pitch selection camp, which starts June 29.

Contact Josh Kerr at joshk@yukon-news.com