Field of Dreams will bring big things to Dakota

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/11/2015 (3622 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dakota Collegiate, in my constituency of St. Vital, has a strong history in athletics and continues to produce championship teams in all sports each year.

Students have always been eager to participate in Dakota’s sports program, even though the school doesn’t have its own athletic facilities to practice or play games on. Instead, students have to commute to other fields after school, which is an extra financial and logistical strain on parents and an obstacle for other Dakota students to come out and support the teams.

Dakota is changing this with their ambitious “Field of Dreams” project. This state-of-the-art, multi-use stadium will include an artificial turf field for the school’s rugby, football and soccer teams; a 400-metre track for their track and field club; and a basketball court, cricket cage, spectator stands, scoreboard and a press box. These new facilities will serve the school’s vibrant and diverse population of athletes.

Dakota’s Field of Dreams won’t just be for the students though. The school plans to have the new facilities intersect with the nearby Bishop Grandin Greenway, so the entire St. Vital community can have easy access to the field.

Dakota’s alumni association has been the driving force behind fundraising for the project, with president Les Wiens at the helm. So far, they have raised $2.5 million through many different initiatives, including sold-out dinners featuring keynote speakers Coach Carter and our own Olympic gold medallist Jon Montgomery.

Recently, I joined other NDP MLAs at Dakota to pledge $1 million to the Field of Dreams project. Our government knows that investing in public education means that we give every family’s children the tools they need to succeed. We’re committed to giving schools the right resources to make sure their students get a high-quality academic and physical education. Since we formed government, we have increased education funding for the province every year to bring it over $1.27 billion. Of this, $1 billion has been put towards building and expanding schools, but we’re also investing in initiatives to reduce class sizes, eliminate bullying and hire more teachers.

Dakota has some really ambitious and hard-working organizers who are dedicated to start building the Field of Dreams in the next two to three years. I’ve seen their commitment, and I’m so glad that our government was able to bring them closer to their vision. Yet another great project to benefit Manitoba families.

If you’d like to chat more about how our government is helping St. Vital, please call me at 204-237-8771 or email me at Nancy.Allan@YourManitoba.ca. You can also check my Facebook at NancyAllanMLA for exciting updates as they happen.

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