Grace Lavoy says she and her Girls At Bat classmates have a safe space where they can be themselves. The Grade 5 student at Windsor's Glenwood Public School is referring to a new elementary program for girls, where they learn the fundamentals of baseball without the competitiveness — and without boys. "You don't have to worry about being discriminated against at all," said Lavoy. "We're a very inclusive area.
We don't want anybody to feel left out at all, so we listen to each other's ideas. We listen to each other just in general. And this is a really great space." Lavoy says she enjoys the batting, catching and infield and outfield instruction the program offers. "My favourite part is probably batting.
I've gotten a lot better at batting over the time that I've been here, so that's great." A report released from Canadian Women and Sport found that among girls who have participated in sport, one in three leave sport by their late teens.
By comparison, the dropout rate for teenage boys aged 16 to 18 is only one in 10. Teacher Paul Cowan runs the program at Glenwood and says it highlights the need for non-competitive athletics — recognizing the fact that these athletes can participate without being cut. "They're just here to have fun, learn a little bit about baseball and have that sense of community that a lot of quote-unquote, competitive sports have as well," said Cowan. "I really wanted to make sure that these athletes had a place that was safe for everyone and a place that they could enjoy." The Jays Care Foundation supports the program to bring awareness to unrepresented members within baseball, says Cowan.