On May 21, girls from Robert Moore and J.W. Walker schools gathered at the Fort Frances sports fields to take part in a fun-filled day of baseball.
Rebecca Tolen is the Youth Outreach Worker at Robert Moore School and helped run the program.
“J.W. Walker and Robert Moore were both running the Girls at Bay program, while I was off Kim (Kirk) and Melissa (Gushulak) applied for the grant for this today and yeah the girls are just having a good time playing baseball,” Tolen said.
According to the Jays Care Foundation website, the program is aimed at introducing the sport to girls and young women and helping to address some common roadblocks or barriers they may face while trying to get more involved with baseball.
“Girls At Bat is an introductory level baseball program designed to reduce some of the biggest barriers anyone identifying* as a girl may face when accessing or participating in sport,” the Foundation says.
“Some of these barriers include, but are not limited to, sport being too competitive, having a perceived lack of skill, limited access to opportunity, and low confidence. Girls At Bat works to remove these barriers by creating spaces that empower and centre the leadership and voices of girls and provide opportunities for them to learn and play sport amongst a resilient and inclusive community. The program changes the game for girls by focusing on four key pillars: connection, courage, leadership, and love of sport. The program is implemented by schools and community organizations with the goal of increasing participation and retention in sport and play.”
Students from as young as grade two through to grade six took part in the baseball day.
Kim Kirk is the vice-principal at J.W. Walker School and gave leadership to the program there.
“Having the girls at bat program really gives them a chance to bond,” she said.
“The Girls get a chance to really create a safe community where they can play and shine. I think a lot of benefits of having a program like Girls at Bat is the students we may not see come out to play because they may be intimidated by the other students or they may be too shy. They come out to girls at bat and they have an opportunity to shine. We’ve seen so many students that I would have never guessed come out and play and they’re just rocking it, so it’s really nice to see them grow.”
The Jays Care Foundation website says as of 2021, one in four girls did not commit to returning to their pre-pandemic sports participation level. Also, one in three girls reports a poor perception of belonging as a factor for dropping out of sports. By the age of 14, girls are two times more likely to drop out of sports altogether.
Tolen added that playing without boys around seemed to make it easier for the girls.
“When it’s just their cohort they’re not afraid of looking stupid or not doing well,” she said.
“They just go out and give it a shot, we really encourage them to make a lot of mistakes.”
After eight weeks of participating in the Girls at Bat program the schools also received free hats and t-shirts from the Jays Care Foundation for the girls who participated in the program.
On their tournament day, each school was able to bring two teams of girls each to play in a round-robin tournament. Organizers added their thanks to H202GO for their donation of a water cooler and water for the day as well as The Place Fine Foods which donated fruit for snacks.
Today, Wednesday, June 4, 2025, both schools also participated in an event for all students.
