School has high hopes for turf field
Notre Dame’s $1-million fundraising initiative includes lights, bleachers and a new score clock
It’s been more than four decades since Vic Oreskovich graduated from Notre Dame College School, but he still has fond memories of attending and playing football at high school in Welland.
Back in the day, when Grade 13 was commonplace in Ontario for students bound for university, Notre Dame, like all Catholic high schools in the province, was a private school for the final three grades. Parents had to pay tuition if they wanted their children to receive a Catholic education after Grade 11.
Oreskovich studied at Notre Dame for five years before graduating in 1977. He went on to study mechanical engineering at McMaster University in Hamilton and then received a master’s degree in business from what was then the University of Western Ontario in London, Ont.
Oreskovich became an entrepreneur and today owns three businesses in Niagara Region: Can-Eng Furnaces International Ltd. in Niagara Falls, JTL Integrated Machine Ltd. in Port Colborne and Trenergy Inc. in St. Catharines.
Business success hasn’t caused him to slow down any. After all these years, the Notre Dame graduate, from the class of 1977, is still hard at work.
“Believe it or not, I can’t think of much else to do. I enjoy the thrill every day,” said the 63-year-old who lives in Oakville.
An especially pleasant part of Oreskovich’s job recently was donating $225,000 — $75,000 from each of his companies — to Notre Dame’s initiative to develop a “community hub” around a turf field and track that is being funded by the Niagara Catholic District Catholic School Board.
“It was affordable and I thought substantial enough to give them some momentum in raising other funds from other alumni or surrounding businesses,” he said of his commitment to the $1-million fundraising goal.
The field and track at Notre Dame is one of two installations approved by the school board. Blessed Trinity Catholic Secondary School in Grimsby is also getting $1.5 million to replace a grass field with turf.
Oreskovich is fully supportive of his alma mater’s ambitious plan to make the new field and track part of a “focal point” to draw in people from the community.
“We want to make it more than just the track and the turf field. We wanted lights, stands,” he said. “We wanted it to be used really by the entire community of Welland and the surrounding area for minor leagues, including soccer.”
Plans include constructing a building to house lockers and dressing rooms, “as well as a place that you could get some snacks.”
“We really wanted to make it a focal point that people could use for a variety of different initiatives,” Oreskovich said.
He has talked to some of his business colleagues in the community to bring advertising to a “bigger and better scoreboard.”
“So the money we want to raise on the side is to pay for all the peripheral facilities and infrastructure for all those purposes.”
Oreskovich quarterbacked the Fighting Irish juniors before switching to linebacker on coach Dan Bishop’s senior team. He has “tremendously good memories” of the grass field at Notre Dame.
“But it was always in a difficult state of disrepair. When I went to Notre Dame, there was no public funding. You paid tuition,” he recalled. “We had very little money at the school for extracurriculars. We took care of the field and we just didn’t have very much money the way you see the field in high schools today.”
Night games were played under the lights at Burgar Park and Plymouth Park when Oreskovich was on the Fighting Irish
Notre Dame began reaching out to alumni in a fundraising campaign after receiving approval for a turf field and track from the school board.
“Don’t get me wrong, that’s amazing. We’re thrilled with it,” principal Andrew Boon said of funding from the board.
“Our goal as a school is how can we enhance that?” he said. “It opens itself up for other things, like community events, nighttime activities.”
Boon, from the class of 1990, called his fellow alum’s $225,000 pledge an example of “incredible generosity.”
“Vic always talks about what an impact the school had on him,” the principal said.
“For him to be able to give back to something that is going to benefit kids for years to come is huge.”
The school’s plans include complementing a new field and track with such amenities as bleachers, a score clock and a press box.
“Hopefully some things that will make it a destination not just for the school but for our community partners, as well,” Boon said.
Tim Bisci, a Notre Dame teacher who is entering his 21st season as head coach of the senior football team, is looking forward to not having to reschedule practices and games once the field becomes unplayable.
“As a football coach, a turf field is immensely important. We’ve had to move playoff games, championship games,” he said. “The kids want to play in front of their friends and their classmates. They want to play at the school.”
Bisci, whose team had to play most of its games on the road on the way to winning the school’s first Ontario championship last year, suggested a “pristine grass field would be great, but no grass field in the area is probably going to be pristine.” They can’t be maintained as they would be at the pro level.
“There are always going to be ruts in it, there are always going to be holes. With our field, the unfortunate part is it’s the only field we have,” he said. “It gets rutted out. The grass gets ripped apart.
“It’s never really that good. Maybe Sept. 1 it might be really good and, after that, it goes downhill real quick.”
Bisci said that being able to play night games at home would be “fantastic.”
“Playing a night game at home would be unbelievable. Everyone can come to it, you can have alumni coming back,” he said. “Just the whole environment would be great.
“Saint Paul used to do it often, and it was so much fun just going there.”
Bisci, a Notre Dame grad from the class of 1987 and a Vanier Cup winner with Wilfrid Laurier in 1991, said a game taking place while students are waiting for the bus bell to sound is “not the greatest thing.”
“You have a bunch of kids there and then they’re gone,” he said. “You’d rather have them stay until the end of the game.”
A video describing the turf field project is available online at vimeo.com/706550623.
As a football coach, a turf field is immensely important. We’ve had to move playoff games, championship games. TIM BISCI NOTRE DAME COLLEGE SCHOOL SENIOR FOOTBALL HEAD COACH