Popularity of kids' baseball is exploding in Quebec as girls take up the sport

On a warm, muggy night at a baseball diamond in Montreal's Notre-Dame-de-Grace neighbourhood, the young girls in the field lean in, ready to pounce. At the plate, there's a crack of the bat as nine-year-old Layla Grintuch hammers a ball and tears toward first base.

It's a chaotic scramble as coaches and parents scream out instructions. The throw to first is not in time. Layla is safe.

This is Layla's second year in the sport. She played on a boys' team last year but is now learning the game with a team full of girls.

"I don't think it's better, I feel like it's equal," Layla explained but said she prefers playing with girls because it's easier to make friends.

"I just wanted to try out something new."

These girls are part of a wave washing across the province. Baseball Quebec says nearly 5,500 girls were registered this year, up from 1,888 in 2014.

Without a major league team — the departure of the Expos in 2004 is still raw for some — and with soccer dominating as a the sport of summer (170,000 Quebec children are registered in soccer leagues), the future of baseball in Montreal has seemed shaky.

But it is having a resurgence of late and it's not just girls taking up the sport. More boys have started playing ball in the last decade too. In 2014, there were 22,983 signed up and in 2023, that number grew to 31,626.

In all, Baseball Quebec has 37,000 players this year, compared to 25,000 in 2014.

It's thanks in large part to a concerted, behind-the-scenes effort.

Sébastien Gariépy, the operations manager for Baseball Quebec, says his organization has been more aggressive and more tactical in making the game more appealing to young families.

There are fewer players on teams in the younger age groups which means kids stay