It’s been 30 years or so, but Chad Meents still remembers the feeling of coming to play at the big field at Slater Park in Bourbonnais.

Coming to town as a member of the Herscher-Limestone Little League, there was nothing like it.

“Bradley-Bourbonnais was just like the big leagues,” Meents, now the Bradley-Bourbonnais Little League president, said. “They were just bigger and all this stuff. So, coming into Slater and being able to play there was just so cool.”

For more than half a century, thousands of local baseball players from Bradley and Bourbonnais called Slater Field their home. And for multiple generations, that became the place to hang out every night from April through June.

When the 2026 season begins as part of Cal Ripken Little League, the field’s sizable, signature scoreboard will stay turned off. The swings at the park next to the main field will likely still be swung, but not by the younger siblings of ballplayers. The press box will remain silently dark and there won’t be panicked parents praying they parked their cars far enough northwest in the parking lot to avoid a foul ball to the windshield.

Rather, the next chapter for the longtime league will unfold at Bradley 315 Sports Park, the new, state-of-the-art facility that opened in the village in 2025, the league announced earlier this month.

“It is very exciting. It’s also very nerve-racking, right?” Meents said. “I mean, it’s new, there’s a lot of moving parts. I never thought I’d be the one overseeing that, but it’s what the time was. It’s exciting and I’m looking forward to all the stuff we’re going to be doing.”

The move from the traditional dirt and grass fields to the field turf complex will alleviate the need for on-field maintenance, while the fully staffed facilities at Bradley 315 Sports Park mean that parents will be able to spend more time watching their kids play and less time volunteering.

Meents credited the park’s director, Jim Byrne, for being so accommodating to take on the community affair.

“[Byrne] has been kind of the point person for all of this and he’s just wonderful to work with,” Meents said. " ... They’ll be taking care of those things for us – we just get to go and play and coach, and just be there and enjoy that level of things."

The league’s four different levels – major (formerly known as Little League), minor, rookie and T-Ball – will play at four neighboring diamonds at the facility’s fields 7-10, one more than the three fields they had at Slater Park.

There will be no gate fee for Little League games, nor for the adult recreational softball that will be going on at the park at the same time, a difference from the scores of travel leagues that come through. Paired with other amenities that Bradley 315 offers, Byrne envisions the true definition of a community atmosphere.

“You want to walk in and watch softball and baseball? Feel free. Want to go fish in our pond? Feel free. Want to walk our lighted walkway? Feel free,” Byrne said. " ... The community built this place, the community should enjoy it."

As the season shifts to a more laborious travel ball schedule in late June and July, there’s no doubt scores of summer travel teams in baseball, softball, soccer and more will flock to Bradley 315. But as prices and competition surges in the travel realm, Byrne and Meents both agreed that there’s always going to be a home for Little League ball.

“Travel ball is a big thing, but I want this place six-seven days a week to be a place for the community to come enjoy and to keep costs down,” Byrne said.

While there’s plenty to be excited about, there’s also a nostalgia factor that parents and grandparents may feel they’re losing out on, something Meents, whose sons have all called Slater Park their youth baseball home.

“Those are the first fields my sons played at,” Meents said. “As a dad, that’s a core memory that I will always have. ...

“I’m sure there are some parents that are upset and will be sad to leave,” Meents said. “Quite frankly, I’m sad to be leaving. Officially. I’ll say that. Slater has been great to us and I will miss it, but I’m also excited.”

League registration is currently open, and along with more information, can be found at bbbaseball.sportsengine-prelive.com.

For more information about Bradley 315 Sports Park, visit 315sportspark.com.