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SPRINGFIELD - The Belleisle Rugby Bears will have a new sports field to perfect the game that has put the community in the provincial spotlight.

Enlarge Photo

Tammy Scott-Wallace/Telegraph-Journal

The province contributed another $50,000 for a new athletic field at Belleisle Regional High School on Wednesday afternoon. Here Tourism and Parks Minister Stuart Jamieson practises tossing the rugby ball while being watched by, from left, female BRHS rugby team member Reilly Gray, Hampton-Kings MLA Bev Harrison, school men’s rugby team member Josh (Moops) Reicker, Belleisle Home and School representative Janice Bates, and men’s rugby player Stevo Bates.

Tourism and Parks Minister Stuart Jamieson was at Belleisle Regional High School on Wednesday afternoon to commit the province to spending $50,000 for the building of a new playing field. These funds are in addition to $25,000 the province presented to the school last year.

Directly beside the only existing sports field at the high school, the new field will receive top soil right away, be seeded in June and be ready for rugby and other athletics by the new school year, Jamieson said.

He called the Belleisle Bay region "one of the most beautiful areas of the province," and said the new sports field to be used by the school and the community will play an important role in the rural community. He also drew attention to the ongoing construction of a new community centre, for which the province is paying a large part of the bill, a few minutes away.

Jamieson made the funding commitment on behalf of Victor Boudreau, the minister responsible for the Regional Development Corporation. He said investment in rural communities to boost the quality of life and encourage active lifestyles is important to the government.

In speaking to the young rugby players, the minister said the field renovation project has been a community dream in Belleisle for about four years. Most of the work was done under Saint John East MLA Roly McIntyre when he held the Regional Development Corporation portfolio.

"Roly said you better get down there and make that announcement," Jamieson said during his outdoor presentation.

Hampton-Kings Tory MLA Bev Harrison said investment in rural communities such as Belleisle boosts community spirit, and with Belleisle rugby being a main source of pride for its citizens, there is no better way to spend the money.

"People know the word Belleisle when they hear rugby," he said. "This school has the best team and the best coach in New Brunswick, and they need a good field.

"Use this field, it's great for the community. Things are happening here that allow you to participate inside your own community without going elsewhere."

Janice Bates of the Belleisle Home and School Association helped lead the project for what she calls "a small community with a big heart."

Since Belleisle's rugby program was created by teacher Grant Beckingham about 20 years ago, beginning with the men's club, the community has rallied behind the teams that have proved nearly unbeatable.