Baseball BC is bringing an all-girls league to a Surrey park to help grow the game among female players in this province.
Games will be played in June, July and August at (9900 154 St.), home of .
Guildford is also home to , for which Scott MacKenzie is director of operations and a co-ordinator of the new all-girls league with Team Canada player .
Both believe it鈥檚 time for baseball-playing girls to have a league of their own in B.C.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the first one of its kind in B.C.,鈥� MacKenzie noted. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something that we鈥檝e been wanting to execute for many, many years now, and it鈥檚 finally come to fruition.鈥�
Last February , and registration remains open for the two divisions (U9 and U12). Details are posted on the website .
鈥淎ll games will be on Saturdays for eight weeks starting June 22,鈥� MacKenzie explained. 鈥淕irls teams from all over the Lower Mainland can come to one location weekly, to start.鈥�
to watch a promo video posted four months ago.
Prior to the league start, Baseball BC is planning another Amanda Asay Jamboree & Festival for girls, on May 11 in Burnaby, in tribute to the former national team player. 鈥淎manda was a real pioneer of the girls game who , unfortunately,鈥� MacKenzie said.
Like Asay, Gilder has worn a Team Canada jersey on the baseball diamond. She鈥檚 a pitcher, and at age 23 aims to play at the 2024 Women鈥檚 Baseball World Cup in Thunder Bay, Ont., this August. Right now she鈥檚 also focused on getting B.C.鈥檚 all-girls league off the ground.
鈥淚 think this league is really an opportunity for girls to experience playing baseball with other girls and to me, personally, it鈥檚 really important for that to happen,鈥� Gilder said in a phone call.
鈥淚 grew up playing baseball with guys (in Coquitlam). While playing baseball with them really helped me from a competitive standpoint, impacted me in a lot of ways and is one of the reasons for my success in other areas of my life, there were aspects that weren鈥檛 always super fantastic,鈥� add Gilder, who now lives in Maple Ridge.
鈥淚 had a very supportive group of guys around me, but I always felt like I needed to prove myself because I was always the only girl. So any errors that I made, in my head they were amplified by 10 because I felt like I wasn鈥檛 just playing for myself, I was playing to prove that girls belonged in baseball.
鈥淪o I think that this league creates an opportunity for these girls to see other girls playing baseball and realize that they鈥檙e not the only ones who do it, and to really start start growing the game among girls.鈥�
Baseball remains a male-dominated sport, MacKenzie confirmed.
鈥淎s the provincial sport organization we鈥檙e encouraging the associations in B.C. 鈥� Little League is one and BC Minor another, to also have all-girl leagues,鈥� he said. 鈥淔or now, this new league will be run by Baseball BC, but the goal is to create it and then have Little League and BC Minor assume it in the future.鈥�
Registration is open for girls teams and players already with an association, MacKenzie noted.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how many girls teams are out there at the moment, but they鈥檙e mostly in the younger divisions, playing against boys,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he truth is, girls are sometimes better at that younger age than boys, and it quickly changes at six, seven, eight years of age.
鈥淲ith the new league,鈥� he added, 鈥渨e hope it鈥檚 a place where young girls will develop confidence, leadership and, you know, love of sport, love of baseball. Our goal is to provide a supportive and safe space that encourages growth on and off the field, a sense of belonging and community where girls feel safe to try new things and learn and grow.鈥�
Gilder sees girls baseball at a place where women鈥檚 hockey was 10 years ago, 鈥渨here the game is growing and there鈥檚 a lot of potential to have professional women鈥檚 baseball leagues. We鈥檙e not quite there yet, though, and it starts at the grassroots level with this, an all-girls league like this.鈥�
Surrey is a good central location for the league, she added. 鈥淪urrey Canadian Baseball Association was kind enough to offer up their park in support of the league, so we thank them for doing that.鈥�
