Shane Stewart, an up-and-coming athlete from Parksville Qualicum Beach, recently won his first gold medal in the 110 metre hurdles at the 2018 BC High School Track and Field Championships. It’s a personal milestone for the Grade 11 Ballenas Secondary student.
While the District 69 community can be rightly proud of his achievement, it cannot claim all the credit. Stewart has been training outside the area due to the inadequate track and field facility at Ballenas Secondary. He described the Ballenas cinder track as “pretty terrible,” where nothing has changed since he started training there as a member of the Oceanside Track and Field Club.
Now he travels three to four times a week to train at the rubberized track in Courtenay, an hour away, helping Stewart improve his hurdling skills.
There are other young athletes in District 69 forced to use better training facilities in Nanaimo, Port Alberni and Courtenay. Even two-time Olympian high jumper Michael Mason, a Ballenas Secondary alumni, trained at the Nanaimo Track and Field Club where he honed his skills to become one of Canada’s elite athletes.
There is a need for a multi-sports complex to be built locally to help develop the potential of local athletes, who might one day become Olympians or land athletic scholarships in universities in Canada or elsewhere.
In 2006 a recreation master plan recommended developing a sports complex, a track and field facility, as well as regional trails. That endeavour failed to get off the ground.
Another District 69 recreation master plan was completed recently and the RDN, School District 69, City of Parksville and Town of Qualicum Beach are in a conundrum because the local facilities, particularly the Ravensong pool, have reached maximum capacity.
They are considering upgrading the pool by adding another tank, turning the Ballenas track into a rubberized surface and building an artificial playing field.
As the community continues to grow, piecemeal solutions will be soon over capacity. School board trustee Elaine Young, who is also a member of the District 69 recreation commission, got it right when she said “It’s time to bite the bullet” and work on building a centralized indoor and outdoor recreation facility.
— Parksville Qualicum Beach News