By Jody Jewers, Editor, The Sport Section
Girls are taking their turn at bat within Sydney and District Little League baseball.
An all-female division was established in 2023 at the T-ball level for ages four to six, with 52 players registered. The following year, an under-9 program was added and the total number of players jumped to 92. This summer saw the debut of a program for ages 10-12 and registration grew to 162 players across all three levels, enough for 11 teams.
“It’s been really great and the girls have been absolutely loving it,” says Nicole Parago, the vice-president of Sydney and District Little League. “We’ve gotten so much positive feedback from the kids, the parents, everyone has been having so much fun. Last year was quite competitive in the (under-9) league, so we took a bit of a step back this year with so many girls moving up from T-ball and those who hadn’t played before, so we focused more on fundamentals and skill building.”
It’s been a bit of a balancing act with those who are new to the game and those who have some background or skill set in the sport, Parago says. That includes coaches as well as players.
“We’re trying to promote females in leadership roles within the division because historically it’s been a male-dominated sport,” explains Parago. “And it’s definitely a work in progress, but we’ve had some really great parents step up in all divisions.
“The under-9 division doesn’t play any games and we have coaches from both teams on the field working with players from both teams on basic skills — what do they do with the ball if it’s hit to them, where and how do they throw it, things like that — and it’s been a great experience for the kids so far.”
The influx of teams has also created a challenge for available field time, especially with two fields that are normally used during the summer receiving needed upgrades because of weather damage through a combination of provincial, municipal and corporate funding as well as the Jays Care Foundation.
Sport Nova Scotia’s Sport Fund has also contributed to the expansion of the girls division with funding for new equipment.
“We were able to get equipment for practices and game play,” says Parago. “Before that, we had been borrowing gear from our co-ed and boys divisions. We had a whole new division that we needed equipment for, so the Sport Fund was super helpful in getting that taken care of.”
Parago says the goal will be to add an ages 12-14 division and to create travel teams that play other associations, as the girls division only had house league play this year.
“T-ball plays once a week and the other divisions have a practice and a couple of games a week, so the commitment level isn’t too bad for players and the coaches, and there’s no travel involved,” says Parago. “And it runs from mid-June to the end of August.”
“The majority of the girls we have are those who have been with us since T-ball, so as they age, we want to be able to provide a place for them to play and hopefully that will encourage others to follow suit, so that’s where we are looking to grow.”
