OPINION: The Cactus Rat in the Room

By JOE McFARLAND

You have to feel for baseball fans in Spruce Grove and surrounding area.

I know I do.

Another year, another season of not heading to the ballpark to see their Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) team up close and in-person.

The Energy City Cactus Rats were finally able to play a few games at the new Energy City Metro Ballpark – 11 of their scheduled 28 – but no fans were allowed in as the team works through construction on the complex.

While the team celebrated their “firsts” in an empty ballpark, everyone from season ticket holders and sponsors to community members and even people around the league started voicing their displeasure about how the facility still wasn’t done.

And as we enter another offseason where we’re seemingly no further ahead than we were a year ago, some important and tough questions need to be asked and ultimately answered so we’re not sitting in the exact same spot in 2027.

That is especially true for the community and the fans.

BIG DREAMS

I don’t think I need to rehash the entire history of how we got here – if you would like a timeline, we did one up earlier on in the season to start documenting the peaks and valleys of the journey from the Prospects to the Cactus Rats.

Many of the issues were well outside of the control of the team, including a pandemic, the subsequent supply chain challenges and, most notably, the weather.

The others can certainly be laid at the feet of the team, including what’s been described as “big dreams with lofty timelines” while not accounting for potential roadblocks.

I’m not interested in relitigating any of those things, but it is worth noting how frustratingly long this process has taken.

Keep in mind: This is a team that took a one-year leave of absence with the expectation that it would have the stadium done and that was three years ago.

DIGGING A HOLE

I get the sense that public sentiment about this project has really soured over the last year.

It started with 2025’s “soft launch” date in early June, followed by biweekly updates, hosting a couple of games at Henry Singer Park, and an “almost did it” against Fort McMurray during the final weekend of the regular season.

What we did get was an online broadcast feed of the lead-up to the game, where you could see crews frantically trying to repair a patch of turf in centre field while the players, coaches and umpires mulled a coming thunderstorm.

The game was ultimately postponed and moved to Sherwood Park.

Interestingly, I had gone to Edmonton with my family for Monster Jam the weekend before those games in 2025 and, after the show, the kids fell asleep in the back of the car, so we took a little jaunt out to Spruce Grove.

To my surprise, we found no one working on the site. While it was on a weekend, I was expecting a hive of activity with a week before the supposed first game.

A few months later, we found ourselves back in the capital region for a trip to the waterslides at West Edmonton Mall and we made a return visit to the site … and nothing had changed.

NO END IN SIGHT

With all of that in mind, I was already skeptical about the prospect of seeing a baseball game at Energy City Metro Ballpark heading into this summer.

The team continued to amp up how close they were, yet they didn’t have any ticket details up on the website and they hadn’t offered (or hadn’t been asked) by media to do a tour ahead of their long-awaiting opening.

Opening weekend of June 6-7 arrived to kickstart an unusually wet month, so no one thought twice about two postponements.

The alarm bells went off though when the Wednesday, June 10 game against Sylvan Lake was postponed “due to facility approvals.”

As it turned out, the team didn’t have an occupancy permit, which was a prerequisite to having another team in the building and actually playing a game.

That set off a whirlwind of events, including tours by league officials and umpires, and a frantic attempt to get the field in good enough condition to play a game within four days, as outlined by the league.

They managed to get it done, hosted their home opener and 10 other games, although several games were postponed, moved or, as it turns out, completely wiped off the schedule.

Weather was the main driver for it, but multiple sources have also said that the field hadn’t really improved at all over the course of the season.

OUT OF THE LOOP

When the league allowed the Cactus Rats to play out this season, they had several criteria that they wanted to be followed.

League president Kevin Kvame told reporters that they wanted the team to update them every week on the construction status, keep fans and the community updated on their rollout plan for getting them into the facility, and keep their nose clean on social media.

After the season, Kvame told the WCBL Report that governors hadn’t received an update “in a number of weeks.”

The team also didn’t keep fans in the loop about what was going on, providing an update through a June 14 social media post about getting the occupancy permit.

“With respect to fan involvement, construction continues and it is hoped that additional occupancy allowing fans into the facility can be achieved within the next two to four weeks,” the team stated.

That obviously didn’t happen while the updates dried up until August 2, when the team issued an update following a handful of scheduled home games being moved to Red Deer, Sylvan Lake and Okotoks.

“After reviewing the remaining construction requirements and the limited time left in the season, Cactus Rats Operations have confirmed that no further games will be held at Energy City Metro Ballpark during the remainder of the 2026 season,” said the statement, which also alluded to the lights still not being operational for night games.

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The team said consistent rainfall in the capital region made it virtually impossible to complete the concourse membrane to allow fans in the stands, while it was clear in other teams’ social media posts that the field itself had taken on more moisture than it was ready to handle.

What also didn’t happen was something outlined in their June 3 social media post, which included a statement about how public opening would take place in phases.

“We are not announcing the exact first public game date today, but that announcement is coming soon,” the update read. “A larger update is also on the way, including a video update and a letter from Managing Partner Patrick Cassidy with more details about what the community can look forward to at Energy City Metro Ballpark.”

In terms of its social media issues, the team ran afoul in late-July when they posted that games against Lethbridge had been postponed and that the Bulls had left Spruce Grove “under protest.”

I had several people tell me that it was the umpires who said the field wasn’t suitable to be played on and that there was no protest by the Bulls.

Ultimately, the team either took down or edited their posts, while the games weren’t made up as the clock and calendar didn’t work in their favour heading into the postseason, where the Rats’ lone “home game” was hosted in Okotoks.

DECISIVE ACTION

With the season behind us, it’s shaping up to be a busy offseason for the WCBL’s board of governors with several major issues at the table.

But it will all start, again, with the Cactus Rats, where Kvame has said they are looking at an earlier annual general meeting to get the situation sorted out. If I’m reading the room right, they will be asking some very pointed questions and asking for some definitive timelines.

“Frustration” is a word that has been used by Kvame, who told CBC News that the governors are hopeful that the team can bring some positive news to the league in the fall.

As mentioned, there is zero appetite to be in this position again in 2027.

While Kvame and others have remained mum on the “what if” scenarios, I can think of one option on the table.

With the league needing to put a schedule together in the fall so that teams can start selling ticket packages prior to Christmas, certainty should be the name of the game.

Pick a date – any date – and tell the Cactus Rats that they need to hit some certain points in the construction process so that they are approved and comfortable having fans in the stands next summer. As an example: Give them until October 31 to get the playing surface back into game condition, install and have operating lights to have night games, have 1,500 seats installed for fans (which is still less than the projected capacity of 3,470), and have the appropriate permits.

And if they can’t meet those targets? A one-year leave of absence to get the stadium done. A lot of time, resources and money has been spent over the last few years to keep the “traveling home team” going. They shouldn’t have to do it for a fourth summer.

Again, this is a completely hypothetical idea because I don’t know what avenues the league has – or is willing to put forward – to get a situation like this resolved.

The important thing is they need to be resolved … and soon.

As a media relations and communications professional, I would also advise the team to be overly forthcoming with information about the process with fans, sponsors, supporters and the community.

No vague timelines or avoiding answer questions for months at a time. Just be honest and realistic with where you are with the process. In a league that is “gate driven” (teams make their money by having fans in the stands), the most important thing for the Cactus Rats is going to be keeping their potential customers happy.

And when they are at that point where they’re able to welcome fans into the stands, they are going to have to put on one heck of a show. “If you build it, they will come” can’t be the marketing strategy at this point. Be overly sympathetic to the fans who have waited years for this to happen and pull out all the stops so they come away believing the wait was worth it.

It’s going to take work. But this situation has dragged on for far too long. It’s time for some certainty going into the season, for the league, fans, supporters and the community of Spruce Grove and surrounding area.