Kristopher Snarby, Region of Queens Mayor Scott Christian, Queens MLA Kim Masland, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston and Olympian Sarah Mitton were among those at the official opening of the Steele Athletic Grounds in Liverpool on Wednesday. (Rick Conrad)

The South Shore’s first turf field and rubberized track officially opened in Liverpool on Wednesday with a new name and lots of community enthusiasm.

The $3.5-million facility at Liverpool Regional High School will be called the Steele Athletic Grounds after a $100,000 donation from Steele Auto Group.

Hundreds of people including Olympian Sarah Mitton, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston, Queens MLA Kim Masland and Region of Queens Mayor Scott Christian turned out for the ribbon cutting.

The Queens County Track Society spearheaded the project that began in 2018.

“It will be a place where both youth and adults can train and dream, where teams can compete and where a community can come together to celebrate with sport and achievement,” president Kristopher Snarby told the hundreds of students and others gathered for the event.

“Today’s grand opening is more than just a ribbon cutting, it’s the start of a new chapter for recreation, health and community pride in Queens County and across the South Shore.”

Snarby thanked the many people and organizations in the community that made the track and field a reality. The federal government contributed $1.8 million, the province gave $1.2 million and the Region of Queens granted $250,000, with local donors and sponsors chipping in another $250,000.

Snarby said after the event that thanks to the 10-year agreement with Steele Auto Group, the society has about $1,000 left over to put toward future improvements like seating and security cameras.

“Most people are bringing their own chairs, but we would like to have some seating, that’s probably the next thing. The other thing are security cameras, that’s probably the top priority. We need to get security cameras up and we’re putting things in place to get that done.”

In addition to the all-weather track and soccer field, the fully lighted facility also features an area for the long and triple jumps. A new shot put circle and area have also been installed next to the high school. The complex is open to everybody in the community.

“It’s getting a lot of use, the soccer kids are loving the field,” Snarby said. “Track doesn’t start until the spring, so the track hasn’t had like a lot of training but the cross-country team does use it to train as well and just the general public using it for walking and … to have some recreation.”

Masland said she was overwhelmed to see the facility completed and open.

“To actually stand on this field today, to see the kids out there really enjoying it, just an amazing day for me,” she said in an interview. “It’s been something that’s been very close to my heart since becoming elected in 2017. Glad I could be part of the project and work with such amazing dedicated folks with the society. This is a game changer for our athletes, for our community and for our students.”

Mitton is a champion shot putter who was a high school student in Liverpool more than 10 years ago. She said the state-of-the-art facility will help young athletes excel.

Before it opened, local track and field athletes had to leave the community to train or use the bus loop around the school.

“This is such an incredible thing for the kids that go to school in this area,” Mitton told QCCR.

“Anyone in the community can use this, whether it’s for just a healthy active lifestyle, a project like this can really change the lives of many people in the community. … I learned a lot not having a facility like this, but I think like this would have eliminated a lot of barriers for me. I drove to and from Bridgewater three or four times a week as a kid once I started joining a club and to have something like this here I think would have been a lot easier and maybe my progress could have been a little bit faster.

“But to have something like this, if you’re interested in throwing shot put, you can just come up and do it whenever you want like in the evenings, it just opens the door for kids to have the same opportunities other athletes and kids have in other communities on the South Shore and around Nova Scotia.”

The facility is operated by the Queens County Track Society and maintained by the South Shore Regional Centre for Education.

The society is selling annual memberships of $25 which entitle people to use the track whenever it’s available. More information can be found on the Liverpool community track and field Facebook page.

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Kristopher Snarby, president of the Queens County Track Society, says Liverpool’s new all-weather soccer field and rubberized track are almost set to open. (Rick Conrad)

The finish line is in sight for the South Shore’s only year-round soccer field and rubberized track, with only one hurdle left to clear.

“The track is done now. Lights are getting done, so we’re just getting them connected. And now we just have to finalize insurance,” Kristopher Snarby, president of the Queens County Track Society, said in a recent interview.

“And once we have insurance in place, then we can start renting it out and start using it.”

The $3.5-million facility at Liverpool Regional High School features an artificial turf soccer field and a four-lane, 400-metre rubberized track. It also has an additional two lanes on the straightaways for 100-metre sprints and 110-metre hurdles races. The society also plans to install bleachers, but that will have to wait until they raise more money.

“I just think it’s amazing that we have this facility in Liverpool,” Snarby says.

“Being the only one on the South Shore is kind of cool. And knowing that people from Bridgewater, Shelburne and all parts in between will want to be here to train and to play games and to run the track, it’s great. I see people out exercising who are runners, and I’m hoping that we’ll see them running to train here. The big game-changer is that we’ll have year-round use now, or close to year-round.”

The federal government contributed $1.8 million, with the province chipping in $1.2 million and the Region of Queens $250,000. The society is making up the difference, with about $150,000 still left to fundraise.

The high school’s old field didn’t drain properly and was sometimes unusable after a heavy rain. The new facility has a modern drainage system built right into the field.

“So, the water actually drains into the perimeter of where the green is for the field, and then there’s a drainage system underneath. It’s been great. We’ve had some pretty heavy rains, and there’s been no issue with drainage.”

The track society is responsible for maintaining the facility and looking after rentals and scheduling, in co-operation with the South Shore Regional Centre for Education and the municipality.

The facility will also be available for anyone in the community to use. Snarby says they’re still working out scheduling details and the logistics for community use.

With a natural turf soccer field and gravel track planned for North Queens Community School in Caledonia, Queens County athletes will be able to train and play on modern facilities for the first time in years.

The closest all-weather tracks are in Halifax, Clare or at Acadia University in Wolfville, all at least a 90-minute drive away.

“Our kids have been at a disadvantage forever for the track,” Snarby says.

“They literally train around the bus loop here. They run around the school, and that’s how they train for runs. So our kids have had to run through the streets of Liverpool, run in the parking lot, run in the bus loop. So it’s nice that we’re going to have the best facility on the South Shore to train at.

“And if I were a kid, I’d be pretty excited about coming here every day and seeing that compared to what they had before. And the soccer field’s beautiful. It’s going to be great for the community.”

Snarby says he had hoped the field and track would have been open by now, but he’s looking forward to having the insurance ironed out in the next few weeks. He’s happy with the almost-finished product.

“I just want to get the gate open so people can start using it. That’s the priority now.”

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Matt Smith of North Queens Active Living describes the new track and soccer field project at North Queens Community School in Caledonia to Queens MLA Kim Masland. (Rick Conrad)

Supporters of a long-awaited new soccer field and track at North Queens Community School in Caledonia cleared the final hurdle on Friday afternoon as Queens MLA Kim Masland announced the Nova Scotia government’s grant of $800,000 toward the $1.1 million project.

The Region of Queens had earlier committed $250,000 and a local resident donated land worth $7,500 to expand the field.

“This is absolutely a change maker for our students and our community,” Masland said in an interview after the announcement at the school.

“Our students will now have the opportunity to train at home, to be able to compete in sports that they’ve never been able to compete in before because they didn’t have the place to train. This is about investing in rural communities, this is about investing in our youth, and I’m just so excited about this project.”

The 325-metre gravel track and regulation-sized natural soccer field will mean that the 235 students from pre-Primary to Grade 12 will be able to stay in their community to train and compete. Now, students must travel to Bridgewater or Liverpool or even farther away to Mahone Bay to participate in outdoor school sports.

A concept drawing of the new soccer field and track at North Queens Community School. (North Queens Active Living)

It will also mean that the school will have a place to hold outdoor physical education classes again. As part of the project, its outdoor classroom will also be freshened up, along with a new canopy built by students in the school’s high school construction trades program.

Jake Flemming will be entering Grade 7 at the school in September. He’s on the volleyball and basketball teams and he throws javelin. He said he’s looking forward to using the new facility.

“I think it’s pretty good because hopefully it will help our stuff because we had to kind of practise inside a few times,” he said.

Principal Cindy Arsenault said it’s not safe for kids to use the field because it’s in such bad shape. It’s especially treacherous after it rains because it doesn’t drain properly, and years of damage from ATVs using the field have left holes in the turf.

“So you end up with giant mucky puddles all over, and plus there’s holes because ATVs are here so we have kids stepping in the water and twisting their ankle or falling,” she told QCCR on Friday afternoon.

She said the new fenced facility will get more kids engaged in school sports, which will help lower absenteeism.

“It allows us to bring in some additional sports and some additional things that our kids have been asking for. We could do rugby and some other similar sports, bring back soccer. It means an opportunity not even during school but off school (hours) for families to come and play here and do picnics and we can now start hosting things instead of us driving all the time.

“So for our kids it’s a benefit, they can be involved where they couldn’t before. Now they can come and be on their home field and be participating in sports.”

The new field and track aren’t just for the school to use, it will also be available for the whole community.

Alyssa Short, president of the North Queens Active Living Society, said she and other group members have worked for the past six years to make the new field a reality, though the need for a new field and track goes back decades.

“I have young children here and I know that the impact that it’s going to have on their lives is going to be incredible,” she said, “and I can see for all of their friends growing up with access to something like this it’s going to make such a big difference in their lives and I know for the community at large, there are so many people excited about this and who are going to take full advantage of this and it’s going to have a huge impact.”

Short expects work to begin this summer. She said she hopes the track and soccer field will be ready by the spring.

With a new rubberized track and artificial turf soccer field set to open soon at Liverpool Regional High School, Queens County athletes and community members will soon have two new facilities.

Masland said that will help young athletes from the area follow in the footsteps of Queens County Olympians like Jenna Martin and Sarah Mitton.

“We’re developing future athletes. If we think about Liverpool, we think about our Sarah; if we think about North Queens, we think about our Jenna. And there’s more Sarahs and there’s more Jennas and we have to make sure we have the place for them to grow and to train.”

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Alyssa Short, chairwoman of North Queens Active Living, details for regional councillors the track and field project at North Queens Community School. (Region of Queens YouTube channel)

A new field and running track will be built at North Queens Community School, thanks to funding from the Nova Scotia government and the Region of Queens.

Regional councillors approved $250,000 this week for the $1.1-million project at the Primary to Grade 12 school in Caledonia.

That’s on top of a planned $800,000 grant from the province.

Alyssa Short, chairwoman of North Queens Active Living, told council at their regular meeting on Tuesday that the field is “almost completely unusable”.

“And so the result is our athletes are not able to train at the school and that has historically been the case.”

Olympic track athlete Jenna Martin went to the school and couldn’t use the field to train, Short said. She had to go to Bridgewater, which is an hour’s drive away.

“There’s very poor drainage, the ground is uneven, it’s compacted,” Short told councillors.

“The water pools up in the middle and so it’s soaked all year round.”

And because it isn’t fenced, ATV riders have further damaged it by “doing doughnuts” in the field, she said.

“It’s to the point that the students are not even able to use the field for recess or for sports or anything.”

The field was built in 1984 with no proper drainage or fencing, Short said. The school’s outdoor classroom is also not safe to use, she said.

The new field will feature a 325-metre track, which is smaller than the regulation 400-metre size. Short said a larger track would have tripled the cost of the project. The field will be fenced, lit and have proper drainage. North Queens Active Living will maintain the field.

“We’ve gone with a natural turf field that will have fencing. And very importantly, it will be a very good quality walking track that will be used by the local community.”

Short said they hope to put the project to tender immediately, and have the work done over the summer and fall so that it will be ready to use next year.

Councillors said the new field and track are vital in a smaller, rural community like Caledonia and the surrounding area.

“I think it’s very important that this project be supported by this council,” said District 6 Coun. Stewart Jenkins, whose area includes North Queens.

“People out in the country have to travel so far for many things and when you start moving your children an hour one way and an hour back just so they can train on a track after they spend all day in school, (that) shouldn’t be unacceptable. I think we should move forward with this.”

North Queens Active Living had requested $250,000 through the region’s community investment fund. Instead, councillors voted to fund the project from their accumulated budget surplus.

This will be the second new track and field in Queens County. A $3-million, 400-metre rubberized track and artificial turf soccer field at Liverpool Regional High School is expected to be ready by early July.

After the funding was approved, Short told QCCR she’s “absolutely grateful” for the municipality’s support.

“I know the school is going to be thrilled, but I think the whole community is really going to get behind it,” she said. 

“It’s going to mean that athletes who have it in them to become athletes have the facilities to follow through on what they’re capable of. And I think there’s probably been a lot of potential lost in North Queens over many years. And I think that having this facility is really going to have a lot more athletes come out of North Queens.” 

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Crews are working on the $3-million Liverpool Community Sports Field at Liverpool Regional High School. (Rick Conrad)

There may be a little short-term pain this fall for some big long-term gain for Liverpool’s high school soccer teams as they wait for a new multimillion-dollar field and track to be completed.

Crews are working now on building the $3-million-plus Liverpool Community Sports Field at Liverpool Regional High School. It will feature the South Shore’s only all-weather, year-round track and a new artificial turf soccer field.

Kristopher Snarby, president of the Queens County Track Society which is leading the effort, said the field likely won’t be finished until November. And depending on the weather, the new rubberized track probably won’t be ready until early spring.

“They’re working hard, they have a camper on site and the crew’s actually living in the camper and working pretty long days,” Snarby said Tuesday.

“We’re hoping that the field will be done late October, early November and the track itself, it depends on weather in terms of when they can lay the track. So the track will either be done in November as well or it will have to wait till spring when things are little warmer. So things are coming together fairly well. We kind of had a pipe dream that the soccer field would be ready for this fall, but that’s not going to happen unfortunately.”

In the meantime, he said the high school’s boys and girls soccer teams are working with the middle school in Liverpool to use that field for practices. He said they’ll likely have to find another field outside Liverpool for their games. 

Despite having to wait a little longer than they’d hoped, Snarby says it’s gratifying to see the project coming together.

“There have been so many people pushing for this for so long, it’s nice to finally see the end result coming together. The contractors that are doing the work are doing a great job there. They’re working really hard to move along as fast as possible.

“It’s just really exciting to know that the community is going to have this facility in a few months. And it’ll be great to see people start to use it. I’ve had inquiries already from other areas who are interested in renting the field to have some higher level soccer taking place there. So that’s really positive. It’s just really exciting for sure.”

The track and field project got a $1.8-million funding commitment from the federal government, $1.2 million from the province and $250,000 from the Region of Queens municipality. 

Snarby said his group will be launching a private fundraising campaign in the next couple of weeks to cover other costs, such as a shot put and discus throwing area.

He said doing those separately from the main project is cheaper.

“The costs to do it as a whole project were extremely expensive. So we had to pull them out of the project and we’re still going to get them done, but they’re going to be quite a lot more cost-effective.”

Snarby said that as long as construction continues to go as planned, everything should be ready for use by March or April next year. 

“We’re looking forward to the end result.”

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Sarah Mitton was tops in the shot put at the Canadian Athletics trials in Montreal last week. The four-time Canadian champion is headed to the Summer Olympics in Paris. (Mundo Sport Image via Athletics Canada Facebook)

Queens County Olympian Sarah Mitton is on her way to Paris.

The 28-year-old world champion shot putter from Brooklyn qualified recently for the Canadian track and field team that will be going to the Summer Olympics July 26 to Aug. 11. 

Her throw of 19.62 metres at the Canadian Olympic trials secured her fourth straight Canadian title.

She owns the world’s longest throw this year and a Canadian record at 20.68 m.

Mitton set that mark in March when she captured gold at the World Athletics Indoor Championship in Glasgow. She is also a Commonwealth Games champion, a Pan American Games champion and a silver medallist at the world championships.

In early June, she also captured top spot at the World Athletics Continental Tour in New York City, with a top throw of 20.15 m, beating her closest competitor by more than a metre.  

“This time, it just feels totally different,” Mitton said in a Canadian Olympic team news release. “We’re preparing more for a medal, and that’s just a totally different feeling going into the Games.

“I feel very confident. A lot has changed since I went to the Olympics last time during COVID. I’m excited to have a crowd. I’m excited to have my family there. I’m just excited about taking the whole thing in.”

Mitton made her Olympic debut in Tokyo in 2020. She told QCCR in March just after winning the world indoor gold medal that she’s matured as a competitor since her first Olympics, and that she’s ready for Paris.

“I think shot put is really this unique sport where as you get older you can still get better,” she said.

“So I think I’m kind of coming into my prime as a thrower. It’s a very technical, very strength-based event. So the stronger you get the better, which takes time. The technical aspect is just so fine-tuned that I’ve got so many throws under my belt and then so many throws in these major competitions now, that I think being able to take away from everything is just building that consistency and then building that confidence amongst the higher-level comps. Being able to handle myself more as a professional as opposed to a rookie thrower who perhaps gets nervous prior to the competition. And I’m able to keep my composure.”

The women’s Olympic shot put qualification round is on Aug. 8, with the final the next day.

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The soccer field at Liverpool Regional High School will be getting a makeover this year, with artificial turf and a new all-weather track. (Rick Conrad)

South Shore track and field athletes will be getting a year-round, all-weather track at Liverpool Regional High School.

The Queens County Track Society has decided to upgrade its original plan. Instead of an eight-lane gravel track, the school will now be getting a rubberized four- to six-lane surface.

It’s part of a $3-million upgrade to the school’s outdoor facilities, which also includes a new artificial turf soccer field.

Kristopher Snarby is president of the Queens County Track Society. He said Liverpool will have the only rubberized track and turf soccer field on the South Shore.

“That means it’ll be able to be used year-round. You don’t have to worry about thawing and bad weather and it’s a lot more accessible for people. So it’s definitely a nice change to the original plan.”

He said the change will add between $250,000 and $300,000 to the cost of the project. The original price tag was pegged at $2.75 million, with funding from the federal, provincial and municipal governments.

RELATED: Liverpool high school to get new track and artificial turf soccer field

Snarby said the group decided the extra cost was worth it to have a year-round facility.

“One of the challenges with gravel, is that when you have the type of weather that we have, it means there’s a lot of upkeep to keep the track surface safe for people to train on. With the rubberized synthetic version, it’s going to be an attraction for athletes all over the South Shore to train on who are doing running events in track and field.”

The 400-metre track will now have four lanes, with an additional two on the straightaways for 100-metre and 110-metre hurdles races.

There are rubberized tracks at Acadia University in Wolfville, King’s-Edgehill School in Windsor, one in Clare and some in Halifax. The closest track to Queens County is a gravel facility at Park View Education Centre in Bridgewater.

Snarby says he’s confident the group can find the money to cover the extra expense.

“We’ve been really fortunate with the funding from the different levels of government. It is a bit more expensive but not crazy expensive like some other versions could have been, I guess.”

He said athletes from around the South Shore will benefit from the upgraded track. He said that because it will be fully accessible, a wider range of people, including para athletes and Special Olympics athletes, will be able to use it.

“It’s going to be a big game changer. It’ll be the only turf filed on the South Shore and also the only rubberized track on the south shore. We’re envisioning soccer teams coming here to use it. When younger athletes from the South Shore that go on to regionals and provincials, they’re always playing on turf fields now. And they’re also running on rubberized tracks. So it will give the South Shore region an advantage being able to train on the same type of track and field that they would be playing higher level games at.”

It will also give people in the community a safe, accessible surface to use.

“It’s going to be a great surface for people to get out in the fresh air and walk or run on a surface where they don’t have to worry about rolling their ankles and tripping. So it’s truly going to be a fully inclusive community space for people to use.”

Snarby said the group plans to launch some fundraising efforts in the next few weeks.

And he said they hope to have the track and soccer field completed by late fall, but he said it depends on contractor availability.

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Sarah Mitton of Brooklyn, Queens County, after winning the gold medal in the shot put at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow on Friday morning. (Sarah Mitton photo)

Brooklyn’s Sarah Mitton can now add world champion to her already long list of accomplishments.

The Olympic shot putter from Queens County captured the gold medal Friday morning at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow.

“Incredible. I’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” she said in an interview via Zoom from Glasgow shortly after her win. 

“I’ve just been up in the top but never really on top at a world championship and now I’ve done three outdoor worlds and this is my second indoor worlds so it’s been a long time coming, so it’s just really sweet.”

Mitton beat her own Canadian record, twice: once with her fourth throw at 20.20 metres, which secured the gold medal. And then, she beat her own record again with her sixth and last throw of 20.22 metres. That was also a season’s best.

“The last one was really fun because when you’re in the lead you get to be the last thrower,” she said. “And so we know what third is, the only person that can overtake you is this girl in second. She doesn’t do it and then you’re standing there and you still have one attempt and you know you’ve just won a world indoor championships which is kind of surreal because you’re just flooded with emotion. 

“And so I stood there and I had goosebumps all over my legs and I was like, ‘OK. But you still have one more attempt to make a mark and have a better throw and just increase your lead.’ I really love the sixth round. It’s the last throw of the (competition), particularly this one where it’s the very last throw of the comp and it’s just really free. Like it didn’t matter if I threw 10 metres, it didn’t matter if I threw 25, I was still gonna be the champion so I think it opens the door for a really relaxed fun throw.”

German athlete Yemeni Ogunleye captured silver with a personal best throw of 20.19 metres. American Chase Jackson won bronze with a throw of 19.67 metres. 

Mitton said that making her first world indoor final in 2022 and throwing more than 19 metres for the first time at a championship really boosted her confidence. And that set her up for the success she’s had ever since.

She is ranked No. 2 in the world in the shot put. She won Canada’s first ever world medal in women’s shot put with her silver at the Budapest games in 2023. And she is a Commonwealth Games champion and Pan American Games champion.

She set a new Canadian indoor record just last week in the Czech Republic with a throw of 20.08 metres. Her personal best is 20.33 metres.

“I had usually underperformed from what I was usually capable of at these majors and I think it really just opened my eyes to be able to believe in myself that hey you’re now amongst these girls. You can break into their world. And from there, it just seems to have skyrocketed.”

And she’s been doing it all with bone chips in her right elbow. 

“My right arm takes a big brunt of the throw every time. And a lot of the girls struggle with elbow issues and of course the older you get, the more speed and force that gets put through your elbow.

“Thankfully we’ve been able to manage that from a non-surgical perspective for now and everything’s been good. … Thankfully, that’s been much better than last season, so I think that’s why I might be seeing a little bit more success indoors than I did last year.”

While her family didn’t make the trip to Glasgow for the short weekend competition, they will all be in Paris for the Summer Olympics in August.

In Glasgow, she had her coach and his wife and the rest of the Canadian team cheering her on.

“She’s been a big part of my career. She’s very involved. She just brings a really good, fun energy. She’s always the loudest person in the stadium and I can hear her from a mile away. But it’s been really fun to have her here.”

She says that having this breakthrough in Glasgow sets her up nicely for the Olympics.

“I’ve had my eye on Paris for two years at least. And everything we’ve been doing in the last two years is a part of our preparation, the same thing with this championships. This was a big part and I think right now, everything’s working, everything’s coming together.”

Mitton has a few meets coming up in China and Morocco, before returning to Canada to begin high-performance training. Then there are the national championships at the end of June, before heading to Barcelona to train and prepare for the Olympics.

Before any of that, though, she’ll be taking a week off and coming home to Liverpool to visit friends and family. And she may even pop into the gym at Queens Place Emera Centre when she’s home.

“I’m excited to see everybody,” she says. “I think it’s always fun walking into Queens Place. It can be really overwhelming, because it’s a lot of people I grew up with. It’s a lot of friends and family, but it’s also just been really great. When you show up, you know everybody and it just feels like home.

“I just want to thank everyone so much for the support. I know the flood of that comes from Liverpool and Brooklyn, Nova Scotia, and all through the East Coast. But I’m working my best to get back to everyone, but I will see you all when I get home. And I just really appreciate all the messages and the support.”

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Sarah Mitton, wearing the red Team Canada jersey, was among the inaugural inductees to the Olympic Wall at Queens Place Emera Centre. Photo Ed Halverson

UPDATED 8:55 a.m. FRIDAY

Brooklyn’s Sarah Mitton won gold Friday morning in the shot put at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow with a season’s best throw of 20.22 metres.

She broke her own Canadian record with the throw.

German athlete Yemeni Ogunleye captured silver with a personal best throw of 20.19 metres. American Chase Jackson won bronze with a throw of 19.67 metres.

Mitton is ranked No. 2 in the world in the shot put. She won Canada’s first ever world medal in women’s shot put with her silver at the Budapest games in 2023. She is also a Commonwealth Games champion and Pan American Games champion.

Mitton is the co-captain of Team Canada at the world indoor championships.

She set a new Canadian indoor record last week in the Czech Republic with a throw of 20.08 metres. Her personal best is 20.33 metres.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com