Brockton Club Transition (1913–1914)
In 1913, a Release was signed. Title to the Athletic playing fields and improvements was exchanged in consideration for non-payment of arrears in “property taxes.” Brockton Point playing fields and improvements came under the jurisdiction of the Vancouver Parks Board. The Rugby section of the Athletic Club remained defiant on the record and symbolically R.E.M. Marpole, the vice-president of the Rugby section of the Athletic Club, peeled off and in 1913 formed the Brockton Point Cricket Club and became the first Brockton Point C.C. President. The cricket club entered a team in the first year of British Columbia Mainland Cricket League (BCMCL) operations in 1914. Rugby had learned a lesson, and most Rugby clubs in British Columbia and Vancouver own their own clubhouses on real estate separate from the playing fields.
Decline of Facilities & Legacy Reflections (1975–2025)
Fast forward to 2025. The grandstand at the Brockton Oval burned down in 1975, not to be replaced. Parking areas have been carved out of playing areas and meters installed. The roots to trees circling the Brockton Point playing fields are exposed. Rugby has stepped in and remodelled the Brockton Pavilion, otherwise upgrades to the playing fields have been few and far between. Campbell Sweeney, the founder and architect of the Athletic Club grounds, reminisced in an article published in The Vancouver Province, July 31, 1927: “I wonder if the youth of today would keep the game (cricket) going under such conditions.” The answer is mixed. In terms of numbers and reach, athleticism and inclusion, the game has grown. In terms of the quantity of green space, a wash; quality of the green space for cricket in Vancouver and Brockton Point in particular, for the most part compromises have had to be made to accommodate the growing pains of the City and the Parks Board and the condescension and one brush of paint and green synthetic color for all surfaces (except Rugby) mindset, of the Vancouver Parks Board.