Seaman Stadium, home of Okotoks Dawgs, named best summer collegiate park

Seaman Stadium, home of the Okotoks Dawgs, has been recognized as the Best Ballpark in Summer Collegiate Baseball by Ballpark Digest. Photo: Okotoks Dawgs

August 14, 2023

By Jeff Duda

Okotoks Dawgs

Seaman Stadium, the home of the Okotoks Dawgs, has been recognized as the Best Ballpark in Summer Collegiate Baseball by Ballpark Digest, one of America's top online baseball resources.

“The Dawgs are honoured to have our home, Seaman Stadium, recognized as the Best Ballpark in Summer Collegiate Baseball,” said John Ircandia, founding and managing director of the Dawgs. “Seaman Stadium is a $20 million facility that was built as a labour of love to offer talented youth and summer collegiate players on both sides of the border, facilities where they could hone their skills to the highest level. The Stadium is the centerpiece of an amateur showcase consisting of two college level stadiums, three youth fields and an Indoor Training Center, all set in an MLB Spring Training like setting.

“The support of our market communities in Okotoks, the Foothills and the greater Calgary area has been described by a national newspaper as a ‘grassroots phenomenon’ and with fans now supporting our summer collegiate Dawgs to the tune of 4,500 fans per game, that statement was never so true.”

The Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL), as a league, boasts some of summer college’s finest facilities including Legacy Dodge Stadium in Fort McMurray, Gulls Stadium in Sylvan Lake and the former professional and newly renovated stadiums in Lethbridge (Spitz Stadium) and Medicine Hat (Athletic Park).

Ircandia went on to describe the achievements of the nationally recognized Dawgs Youth Academy:

“….in keeping with our Dawgs vision, our Youth Academy has been ranked third in North America by Perfect Game with numerous graduating players receiving scholarships to top US colleges. Since 2009, the Dawgs Academy has over 230 college placements including 59 NCAA Division I players with over $12 million in scholarship money earned. It is an illustration of the incredible success of the Youth Academy that US college baseball powerhouse, Oregon State University, will be conducting a portion of its fall training and playing intersquad games against Dawgs Academy teams at the Seaman Stadium Complex this fall.

“The Dawgs are proud to be the marquee franchise in the Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL), the premier summer college league in Canada. We thank our fans for expressing to our southern neighbors what we in Canada have known for some time: Seaman Stadium truly is the best ballpark in all of summer collegiate baseball!”

The news from Ballpark Digest comes on the eve of the WCBL championship series with the Dawgs facing off against the Medicine Hat Mavericks. The Dawgs finished the regular season with 40 wins and for the fourth consecutive season led the WCBL in wins to earn home field advantage for the finals. The club swept Fort McMurray and Sylvan Lake while Medicine Hat bested Regina and Moose Jaw to set up the championship series.

The schedule for the Championship is as follows:

Game 1: Tuesday, August 15 at 7:05 p.m., Seaman Stadium, Okotoks, Alta.

Game 2: Wednesday, August 16 at 7:05 p.m., Athletic Park, Medicine Hat, Alta.

Game 3 (If necessary): Thursday, August 17 at 7:05 p.m., Seaman Stadium, Okotoks, Alta.