NORFOLK, VA (WTKR)- While most of the Tides' work can been on the field at Harbor Park from March through September, the team is also working to build up baseball in the surrounding communities.
The Tides are now accepting applications for their annual Youth Field Makeover Project. Organizations can submit to have their field renovated by simply sending a picture of the field and a paragraph describing the venue to Heather McKeating at hmckeating@norfolktides.com. The application deadline is February 6 and the team will select one field to refurbish soon after.
"Any time we can grow the game on the very basic root level here in Hampton Roads, we're going to do it," said McKeating, who is the Tides' Director of Community Relations and Retail. "Honestly, it's such a small venture that we do, but it has such a great, grand implication of what the game of baseball is and how important it is to Hampton Roads.
Launched in 2012, the Youth Field Makeover Project has seen the Tides renovate 18 youth baseball fields in the area. What gets done at each park? That all depends on the need.
"All fields around here are very different," McKeating pointed out. "They have different soils, they have different grasses so when we pick the team, we go out and do a survey of what that looks like and then we make a financial decision what we can supply, what we can do. We're with some local partners that are big community partners that want to be involved in this."
Field surfaces, drainage issues, dugout and bleacher replacement and edging between the infield and outfield are all among the areas the makeover could address, depending on the needs of that specific field.
The team has traveled throughout the seven cities and beyond since the program's inception. For more information, click here.
