VANCOUVER – When the UBC Thunderbirds Softball team begin playing at their new home on campus next year, the field itself may at first be unfamiliar but the name will certainly not be. Thanks to a significant gift from the Collings Stevens Family Foundation, UBC Athletics' newest facility will become a reality, and will also bear the name of the program's head coach and biggest champion, Gord Collings.

Gord's younger brother, Al Collings, also a UBC alumnus and former UBC Thunderbird soccer player, and his wife, Hilary Stevens, through their Collings Stevens Family Foundation, have ensured that Collings Field at Nobel Park will serve as a lasting legacy for the dedication and tireless efforts of the T-Birds' softball coach who has guided the program since 2013.



Established in 2010, the UBC Softball program has been without a true home field on which to practice and play. The team has hosted their NAIA home games at Softball City in Surrey, requiring student-athletes and coaches to make the commute from Point Grey on a regular basis. That extra time has only added to the existing challenges of juggling a full course load of studies along with the rigorous training, competition, and travel schedules.

Upgrades to the existing Nobel Field, located at the south end of campus in Wesbrook Village, will include a resurfaced field, new dugouts, bullpens, bleachers, and fencing. Collings Field at Nobel Park will also provide close proximity to other UBC Athletics facilities, vastly improving softball student-athletes' access to training, therapy, and academic services while serving up a true home field advantage.

There is a strong argument to be made that without the new facility's namesake, the program wouldn't still be here today. Since his arrival at UBC in 2013, Collings has navigated his team through numerous hurdles including a tumultuous sport review that threatened the team's very existence.
 

The naming of Collings Field not only honours Gord's time as the head of UBC's softball program, but a lifetime of service to education and sport.

Graduating from UBC with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1975, Gord received his teaching certificate the following year and returned to Point Grey to complete his Masters in Education in 1985. He was a teacher and administrator for 33 years in the Delta school district.

After coaching at the community level for decades, Gord became the head coach of the Douglas College softball program in 2008, a position he held for five years, culminating with an appearance in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges Championship Final in 2013, just before joining UBC.



Well respected and admired in the UBC Athletics family and the greater softball community across B.C. and Canada, Gord's championing of amateur sport at numerous levels makes the naming of Collings Field a very fitting tribute.

The project was made possible with support from the University, and a fundraising campaign spearheaded by volunteers from the softball community. Rick O'Connor, Bill Sherritt, Deron Freer and Scott Jones worked to gather donations from over 70 individuals and businesses to raise valuable funds to begin the construction. Work on the facility has already begun with an expected completion date in June 2021.



CLICK HERE for more information on how to support UBC Softball and their new home.