Why Whitefish High School baseball no longer plays at Memorial Field
Many community members and parents have asked why Whitefish High School baseball is no longer playing at Memorial Field, a beautiful venue adjacent to the high school. I want to outline the facts regarding our negotiations with the Glacier Twins over the past three years and share why we are now facing the need to build a new home for our players.
My name is Brigetta Schwaiger, and I am the president of the Whitefish High School Baseball Fundraising Board. Our non-profit board was created because the Whitefish High School baseball program receives no funding from the school district. Our sole mission is to raise money so our players have the basic necessities: uniforms, transportation, umpires, coaches, equipment and facilities. Many of you may have seen our organization mentioned in two recent letters written by Julio Delgado and one written by the Glacier Twins. I think it’s important that the community understands from a first-hand perspective our experience with the Glacier Twins coaches and board over the last three years.
In 2023, the inaugural year of the Whitefish High School baseball program, we entered into a written sublease agreement with the Glacier Twins, who lease Memorial Field from the City of Whitefish for $1 per year. The sublease allowed us to host JV and Varsity games and Varsity practices (at the discretion of the Twins). The cost for that first year was $4,000, plus an additional invoice of $1,879 at the end of the lease, for a total of $5,979.
When it came time to negotiate for the 2024 season, the Glacier Twins proposed a contract that would allow WHS Baseball to play JV and Varsity games, do pre-game warmups at their discretion, but would prohibit any practices at the field. The cost proposed was $6,000 plus an additional $1,400 for a reserve replacement account. Without practice rights, we would also need to rent Smith Fields for the season, which made the arrangement financially unfeasible. We respectfully recommended to the school to decline the proposal and moved all high school baseball activities to Smith Fields.
I want to specifically acknowledge the extraordinary kindness and support of Project Whitefish Kids and Smith Fields. They welcomed WHS Baseball with open arms and immediately began upgrading the field by building new dugouts for our players. We gathered a large group of parents and players and had those new dugouts painted in no time.
Still, we hoped to return high school games to Memorial Field. In talks with Twins’ president Kevin Slaybaugh, it was apparent that they were not willing to enter a contract for the 2025 season. With this in mind, we attempted to negotiate a compromise. We submitted a proposal in mid-March to rent Memorial Field for three days at $500 per day — aiming to host the historic Sapa-Johnsrud Tournament and the Whitefish-Columbia Falls crosstown rivalry game, both cherished community traditions. I attended the Glacier Twins board meeting in April and presented the proposal alongside our Athletic Director, Aric Harris, and my fellow board members Pete Akey and Gretchen Boyer.
The Glacier Twins Board later informed us that they voted in favor of allowing the crosstown rivalry game but voted against hosting the Sapa-Johnsrud Tournament at Memorial Field, a tournament that was notably hosted at Memorial Field for over 30 years.
After careful consideration, our board recommended that the school decline the offer to host the crosstown game at Memorial Field. Without the Sapa-Johnsrud Tournament — which is an important and historic event for Whitefish baseball — it no longer made sense to use the field for just a single game.
Throughout our discussions, we also proposed fundraising together with the Twins to make improvements to Memorial Field for the benefit of all players. Unfortunately, we were told that the Twins were not interested in joint fundraising because it would make them "beholden" to the high school program.
This is a significant point for the community to understand. Although Memorial Field is a public asset owned by the City of Whitefish, the Glacier Twins view the field primarily as a Legion field rather than a community or Whitefish field.
Meanwhile, *Columbia Falls High School has had a lease agreement that allows them to use Sapa-Johnsrud Field since the inception of the program, and Bigfork just built a new high school baseball field as well. Yet Whitefish High School players, whose school sits literally across the street, are effectively locked out of using Memorial Field during baseball season unless terms are set solely by the Glacier Twins.
I urge the City of Whitefish to carefully review the current lease agreement. The lease with the Glacier Twins ends in 2028, but it includes two consecutive 15-year renewal options that can be exercised at the sole discretion of the Twins. If both renewals are taken, the lease would run until 2058.
That is a very long time to prevent the Whitefish community and its high school athletes out of meaningful access to Memorial Field.
Looking forward, I would respectfully propose that the City of Whitefish consider restructuring the lease starting in 2028 to allow greater community access. One possible solution would be to allow Whitefish High School to lease Memorial Field from late summer through early spring, after the conclusion of the Legion season and before the start of the new one. This would allow football to use the field for practices and give Whitefish High School baseball a true home field without interfering with the Twins’ summer season.
Unfortunately, without access to Memorial Field, we now bear the burden of raising significant funds to build up Smith Fields. We will need to partner with Project Whitefish Kids to build proper bleachers, concessions, and restrooms to give our student-athletes and their families a home field they can be proud of and our board will continue working toward that goal.
Thank you to the community for your continued support of Whitefish High School Baseball. We remain committed to providing the best possible experiences for our players and their families. If you have any questions, please email bulldogbaseballboard@gmail.com.
Sincerely,
Brigetta Schwaiger
President, Whitefish High School Baseball Fundraising Board
*Correction to Columbia Falls High School lease agreement.