These girls can play
Popularity of girls baseball in the province and across the country growing by leaps and bounds
In keeping with a nation-wide trend, girls’ baseball across Newfoundland and Labrador is growing by leaps and bounds, which isn’t surprising to Mark Healy, who’s been around ball parks for as long as he remember.
“They’ve really fallen in love with the game,” Healy says of the young women. “No one can question their passion or love for the game.”
Newfoundland and Labrador is currently in Bedford, N.S. for
the 16-years and under invitational where the province improved to 2-0 Friday morning by outlasting New Brunswick 11-10.
But it’s not only the elite, provincial-level players who are enjoying baseball.
Healy, who also serves as the St. John’s Amateur Baseball Association president and Holy Cross senior baseball coach when he’s not coaching the girls, says the game is thriving at the grass-roots level.
In St. John’s, there’s a girls’ house league for the first time, with mosquito (10-11 years)
and peewee (12-13) playing in the one division.
‘A League of Their Own,’ as it’s known.
The under-16s currently playing in Nova Scotia participate in the St. John’s boys’ bantam house league.
“For the first time this year,” said Healy, a director on the St. John’s Minor Baseball Association on top of his other duties, “we have provincial 12U, 14U, 16U and 18U championships.
“In 12U and 14U, there are two divisions.”
St. John’s, in fact, is playing
host to the 14U Atlantics Sept. 6-9.
Want more proof the game is on a steady upward climb?
In June, St. John’s Minor had a girls division in the School Tournament Series which attracted nine teams in the girls’ junior high.
Three years ago, in 2015, Baseball Newfoundland and Labrador had a total female registration of 342. That number grew to 364 in 2016, to 474 last season. This summer, 595 females are registered with the provincial association.
Last month, five Newfoundlanders — Jaida Lee and Kayla Musseau of St. John’s, Holly Russell of Grand Falls-windsor, Hannah Legge of Cow Head and Sommer Mosher of Corner Brook — were part of the Chicago Pioneers’ active roster, which won a championship in the Baseball For All Nationals female tournament in the Windy City.
Two others — Taylor Burton and Lauren Chaulk, both of Corner Brook — were injured but made the trip to support their teammates.
Healy said the core areas for girls’ baseball are St. John’s, Grand Falls-windsor and Corner Brook, although Pasadena has teams in 12U and 14U, and Bay St. George has two teams in 12U and one in 14U.
“Baseball Canada understands that girls’ baseball is a growth area, and they’re investing a lot of money and placing a lot of emphasis on the game,” Healy said. “The Blue Jays are behind it, too.”
Girls’ baseball in Newfoundland and Labrador certainly had a good ambassador for the game in Paradise native Heather Healy, who was a member of the national women’s team.
Healy is currently in Regina, Sask., training for the RCMP.
“She’s an idol the girls certainly look up to,” Mark Healy said.
If there’s a problem area, it’s the gap between 16U and 21U.
“The girls don’t really get a lot of playing time in the (St. John’s) intermediate league,” he said.
The 18U age group is a new event this summer and officials hope it will continue to provide young female baseball players, who have aged out of minor, a game of ball.