Hydebank Parks & Playing Fields, Belfast

The dedicated baseball diamond located at Hydebank Parks & Playing Fields in Belfast opened on May 28, 2016; the first of its kind purpose-built baseball facility in Northern Ireland.

This facility was created through a sports diplomacy initiative lead by diplomat Dr Christopher Stange of the Consulate General of St. Vincent and the Grenadines to Northern Ireland in conjunction with the main partner: Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council, who own the site.

The objective of this facility is to offer a high-quality space where teams can practice and compete whilst offering an opportunity for the public to take up a new sport, enhance and improve their personal health and wellbeing.

This cross-community facility centres around building bridges, uniting the local and diaspora communities, many hailing from North America, Caribbean, South America, Asia and the Pacific, where baseball and softball are either national or main sports.

Hydebank is home to several baseball and softball teams, including, the Northstars and Buccaneers Baseball Clubs, the Angels Softball Club and the Youth Baseball Academy (Badgers).

Hydebank is a full international specification field with underground drainage, pitching mound, backstop, benches, pavilion with changing rooms and toilet facilities, parking, perimeter track and a child friendly playground.

The addition of a full-size batting cage opened on March 05, 2022, through a partnership of the Consulate General, Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council and Baseball Ireland.

The field is designed to accommodate both little league baseball and softball.

Highlights at Hydebank are it was the host field for the first Ulster Baseball Championship in 2016, where teams across Ireland and the United Kingdom participated.  In the same year, the Northstars won the Baseball Ireland “B” division with the Buccaneers placed second.