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Sylvan Lake WCBL Team in the Works

WCBL

An effort to launch a summer-collegiate Western Canadian Baseball League team in Sylvan Lake, AB is in the works, with city officials and prospective team ownership engaged in discussions.

Under the current concept, a 2,200-seat ballpark would be built as part of Sylvan Lake’s Pogadl Park development and house a WCBL expansion team backed by the ownership group Hard 4 Sports and Entertainment. The earliest that the ballpark would be completed is 2021, with the WCBL squad potentially beginning play that season as part of a 25-year lease agreement.

Discussions between the Town of Sylvan Lake and Hard 4 Sports and Entertainment are moving along, as it was announced this week that they are proceeding with a memorandum of understanding. There is still work to be done to make the plans for the team and ballpark a reality, as the league would have to officially approve the ownership group’s expansion application. More from the Red Deer Advocate:

“The group Hard 4 Sports & Entertainment has made an application to the Western Canadian Baseball League for an expansion team, to go into Sylvan Lake beginning no earlier than the 2021 season. They have an agreement on a field and we’re doing the process of evaluating their application,” said WCBL president Kevin Kvame.

“The board of governors of the Western Canadian Baseball League has accepted the concept of an expansion team in principle being granted to that area. But it still has to have all the boxes checked off before it is officially accepted.”

Aqil Samuel is the GM and President of Baseball Operations for the group and said they’ve already been in contact with a developer out of Edmonton to draw up stadium plans. The man behind the project is Graham Schetzsle, who runs Dryland Cattle Trading Corp. near Consort.

The WCBL currently features 12 teams, including six based in Alberta as part of its West Division.

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