On the long chewed up stretch of construction that is currently Eglinton Ave., there is an oasis that provides a place and space for many of the games people play. It’s called Eglinton Flats.

This parkland arose from the havoc caused by Hurricane Hazel in 1954. Flooding from the Humber River devastated the low lying farmland. Five years after Hazel hit, the area was designated a greenbelt zone, and the result now makes up Toronto’s largest regional sports field facility, spreading over three large quadrants around the busy Jane and Eglinton intersection.

It is an idyllic oasis featuring wildlife, a large pond and green space that is now flooded with soccer players, tennis enthusiasts, cricketers and many less organized activities.

On a pleasant Monday evening in August, in the south-east quadrant of the park off the parking lot, a crowd watches and plays dominos, clacking down tiles and trash talking in patois.

“Dem got six and broke it up,” explains one player to a spectator.

Spanning generations, today the elders have one game going, while two other tables of young men play a few metres away. On a makeshift table of four slats of packing foam, Claude Anderson eyes his pieces and explains that they have been coming in here for years.

“It’s a gathering place. If it’s a nice day, we’re here. This is what we do in our spare time,” he says, adding that people just show up and join whatever games are going.

“Why you wanna play so hard,” says Harry Audit, repeating it like a mantra as his opponents slap down tiles, waiting for his turn. They use a twig in a slot on the side of their game board to keep score, like a makeshift peg in a Crokinole game.

The crowd in the park on this day is a snapshot of the area, where census data says 40 per cent of the locals are from young immigrant families, with 60 per cent of those originating from South Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. There is also a high concentration of multi-generational families mostly of European, Asian and Caribbean descent.

Residents in the area agree that this much-needed green space offers an idyllic setting to relax especially for those who live in highrises that overlook Eglinton Flats north. The usually quiet area was shaken last Monday by a shooting a few hundred metres away just north of the intersection, leaving one man dead and another injured. The wailing of rushing emergency services vehicles permeated across the flat land but didn’t spoil the laid-back atmosphere. The emergency vehicles, it was assumed, were racing to a car accident.

The quality of the sport amenities also make the Flats a destination. On the other side of the parking lot, Eglinton Flats Tennis Club attracts a more affluent crowd. While the signs say it’s pay-to-play, the clerk in the club’s office advises that the first court is free when available.

Just past the parking lot is the usual main event, with three soccer fields that are often busy. It’s still early, and quiet. Two loons fly over the fields honking, making their way to the pond that lies just to the south.

Diego Corenjo and Arlee Aparacio take advantage of the free pitch and practice. Aparacio boots a ball way over the net and the pair have to dig through the small but thick brush of woods to retrieve it.

“It took us a while to find it. Good thing too, it’s our only ball,” says Aparacio.

“These fields are good. You cannot find too many fields that have nets and the field markings,” says Corenjo, when asked what he likes best about the park.

On the furthest field Monique Brown kicks a ball with her 3-year-old son looking like a natural, and his three older sisters.

“I love it. There’s lots of space, we love the pond, and we love to see the wildlife. My kids like the turtles,” she says. “Yes, there’s lot of soccer, but it’s a great place to just walk, hang out and have a picnic.”

The York Jets under-13 club team is about to start practice, and the Browns move to an empty pitch.

Jets coach Pablo Escobar, 26, likes the fields here, but laments that, likeToronto’s overcrowded hockey rinks, the explosion in the popularity of soccer is making it harder to find places to play.

“Some of (the fields here) are definitely a little worse for wear. This one isn’t bad. I wish it would be better. We’re lucky because it’s the furthest, so people are lazy and just play on the first two,” he says. “I think the sport is so big the more competitive it gets, the nicer you want . . . the facilities to be, and it’s harder and harder to find that . . . If you want good fields, you can’t have people playing on them all the time, but then where are people supposed to play?”

It is definitely not all running and kicking in the Flats. Over at Topham Pond, Matt Russell from Lindsay, Ont., casts his line and lureoff a shady outcropping just off the path next to the soccer fields. He’s visiting Ryan Scheer, who lives in the area.

“They came up here to visit me, and I asked what they wanted to do, and he said let’s go fishing. So I said let’s go to the Flats,” said Scheer.

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“From what we know, there’s catfish and carp in there, but they aren’t really co-operating today.”

Russell casts and casts, but has had no luck reeling anything in. A fish jumps above the water about 10 metres away, taunting the anglers. Like most people in the park on this evening, it just seems to want to enjoy a taste of the sun.