MANOTICK STATION—Think of it as a high-tech cow-chip throwing competition—Ultimate, the Frisbee sport that’s taken Ottawa by storm, has moved to Manotick Station, where a derelict sod-farm has been transformed into the Ultimate Sports Park, an innovative sports facility that’s been branded an environmental success story.
The Ottawa Carleton Ultimate Association, which has grown from a handful of teams since its inception in 1986 to roughly 275 teams with more than 3,000 players, bought the land in 1997. It contracted Ecoview Developments to transform the farm into an environmentally-friendly sports fields.
"My primary interest in this is environmental—trying to reduce pesticides particularly," said Ecoview owner and manager Larry Pegg. "The research is pointing us toward a reduction of pesticides, because they are being used indiscriminately in the city, and there’s no question now that there are health issues associated with the use of pesticides."
But the term ‘environmental’ is not just a term thrown loosely on the sports park. In all, the land purchased by OCUA is a 110 acre property, of which the fields cover roughly 25 acres. The rest of the land is forested wetlands fringing on the South Castor River. Development plans not only call for a reduction of chemicals and synthetic fertilizers on the fields, but also for the protection of the surrounding wetlands.
"I guess you could call it a fully integrated, sustainable plan, which includes transportation, social education, reducing pesticides, erosion, and encouraging habitat," said Pegg.
Ecoview’s plans for the park include building a boardwalk from recycled wood throughout the wetland, as well as a nature interpretive centre. It has partnered with various groups including South Nation Conservation, Duck’s Unlimited, and Kemptville College.
"We’ve basically protected the land, we hope, in perpetuity," he said. "The best way, I think, to protect it is to develop the wetland into an educational experience, one that the community would not want to lose once it proved to be a stop-over point that people enjoy.
"And of course, during sporting events it would be a great asset to have for people who just want to jog and loosen up, or get ready for their tournament, or take a break in-between games.
"It’ll be an opportunity to have them latch on to some of the concepts of ecology that they might not otherwise be thinking of when they are all pumped up full of adrenaline, catching knives. So that’s the underlying, diabolically, ultimate plan."
Catching knives, in Ultimate lingo, is catching a fast-moving, vertically-flying Frisbee, or disc as its called, and Pegg is no stranger to the sport. He’s played since 1986, for teams such as the Bodacious Cowboys, the Posse, and Passing Wind.
The sport, which combines elements of football, basketball and soccer, uses a disc instead of a ball, and is played on fields similar in size to a football pitch.
The development plan for the park is to incorporate sustainable practices that will provide the community with a tournament class playing venue for regional, national, and international events. Together with the adjacent woodland/wetland area, the park is the first of its kind in North America, and will serve as a model for future developments.
"We have eliminated pesticide use during the grow-in and management stage," said Pegg, explaining the goal is to use 100 per cent natural fertilizers. Currently, he said that in terms of volume of fertilizer, they are using about 90 per cent natural, ten per cent synthetic fertilizers.
The push to use natural, organic fertilizers—including compost from the Region of Ottawa Carleton Compost program, and Domtar soil conditioner—is mainly because it doesn’t dissolve as quickly into the water table, and is more resistant to leaching, he said. He also sought a highly-organic soil amendment because the fields had been severely depleted of nutrients and organic matter from 30 years of sod farming.
"We will be putting a blend of specialty compost into the trial to measure performance in a response to various top dressings," said Pegg in reference to a five-year turf grass research project with Kemptville College.
Peter Johnson Berresford is conducting the study, but was not available for comment prior to press time. "Peter put in the turf trial and is monitoring the performance of the turf. Ecoview has put in its own compost trial and I’m providing the management...doing soil testing, and total management of the facility," said Pegg.
Pegg said the turf grass study involves testing 24 varieties of turf for criteria such as ware tolerance, growth, establishment, disease resistance as well as weed invasion. Pegg started Ecoview Developments in 1995. Before that, he provided environmental consulting to golf courses and the turf grass industry. Prior to that, he owned his own landscaping company, and it was there that his dislike for pesticides grew.
He recalled an incident when he and one of his employees were pruning pine trees laced with pesticide. After a short while pruning, and getting pricked by the pine needles, they both noticed a strange sensation.
"Within 20 minutes, our arms went numb from the shoulders down," he said. The numbness left after 24 hours, but Pegg wonders what long term effects there might be from the exposure. "That was a total eye opener for me."
He said that the Ultimate league, which is made up mostly of co-ed teams, is becoming a family affair, with more and more people bringing their children and babies to games.
With babies crawling around in the grass, and being held by players who have contacted the grass, the use of pesticides on turf is a real concern to parents, he said.
"While they are here, they’re safe," Pegg proudly states, adding the fields aren’t only pesticide-free, they are quality sports fields, "There’s other facilities that haven’t abandoned the pesticides, and the quality isn’t as good."
From the Archives:
News, July 2000
