Tides to renovate youth field in Gloucester

After nearly 10,000 votes were cast on the Norfolk Tides Facebook page, Gloucester Youth Baseball has won a contest in which the Tides organization will renovate their baseball field. This field makeover will include an upgrade to the playing surface and an improvement to existing dugouts, with the renovations taking place in mid-April.

Gloucester Youth Baseball received over 4,700 votes to win the contest, which consisted of eight local youth fields. Tides groundskeepers and front office staff will visit Gloucester Youth Baseball to assist in renovating their field.

"We are excited to lend a helping hand to the people of Gloucester, as they displayed an overwhelming outpouring of support to rally around this cause" said Tides General Manager Joe Gregory. "We want to thank everyone who voted in this contest, and our whole staff can't wait to start the process of doing our part in giving the children in Gloucester a field they can be proud of."

2016 is the fifth year in which the Tides will be renovating a local youth field. Over the first four years of the program, the Tides have helped renovate seven local fields - Ocean View Little League (Norfolk), Smithfield Recreation Association (Smithfield), Bennett's Creek Little League (Suffolk), Phoebus Little League (Hampton), Shore Little League (Nassawadox), Cradock Little League (Portsmouth) and Little Creek National (Norfolk).

The renovation project is made possible thanks to the Tides Youth Baseball Fund, a program established by the Tides in 1990 as a way to raise money for youth baseball and softball programs in Hampton Roads. In addition to assisting with field renovations, the Youth Baseball Fund also helps local teams and leagues with travel expenses. The Youth Baseball Fund is partially financed by scoreboard announcements at Harbor Park throughout the season, and those wishing to make a donation directly to the Youth Baseball Fund can do so via norfolkides.com under the "community" section.

Volunteers from Safelite Auto Glass will also be assisting the Tides front office staff with the field renovations.

The Tides open their 2016 regular season on Thursday, April 7 vs. Gwinnett at 7:05 pm. Season tickets, group tickets, picnics and patios are currently available for the 2016 season. For pricing and additional information, stop by the Harbor Park Box Office, visit norfolktides.com or call (757) 622-2222.