From: Jays Care | Girls At Bat | Toronto Blue Jays
Kitchener is proud to be accepted as a Jays Care Affiliate School, allowing us to provide extracurricular baseball program to students who are new to baseball or may face other barriers to sport. We will be offering 2 programs this year: Girls at Bat during February and March, and RBI during April and May. Consent forms for the first program will be sent home with eligible students. Please return them to school by Jan 27th. See below for more information about the first program: Girls at Bat.
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. 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.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT:
- 1 in 4 girls is not committed to returning to their pre-pandemic sport participation levels (Canadian Women & Sport, 2021).
- 1 in 3 girls report a poor perception of belonging as a factor for dropping out of sport (Canadian Women and Sport, 2020).
- By the age of 14, girls are 2x more likely to drop out of sport (Women’s Sports Foundation’s Go out and Play: Youth Sports in America report).
If you have any questions about the program, please reach out to Ms. Yaremko and Ms. Bulos at erika.yaremko@burnabyschools.ca patricia.bulos@burnabyschools.ca
