Canadian Girls Baseball

When Dana Bookman‘s daughter was 6 and wanted to swing a bat and hit a ball, her only option for league baseball was among 400 boys her age. Dana knew her daughter couldn’t be the only girl longing to play on a team with other girls. So she decided to start a league for them: Canadian Girls Baseball,  the only all-girls league in Canada. The 2016 season started with 44 players, finished with 350, and never stopped growing.

Five years after the first pitch, CGB serves over 1500 girls across Canada. It’s one of the largest all-girls leagues in the world, according to Major League Baseball.

CGB has a goal of giving every girl a place to play in her own area, currently serving five provinces with programs for girls from 4-16. Dana makes sure that the young players see female role models in every employment category throughout the organization. Coaches, umpires, administrative staff – women in all the important jobs show that there’s a place for players to participate on or off the field.

Our Awesome Without Borders grant will help with some of the COVID-19 protocols to keep everyone safe and healthy. And because CGB welcomes girls of every socioeconomic group, we’re happy to help underwrite the helmets and bats for players in communities that need a little outside support so that every girl who wants to try to play will have everything she needs to succeed.

The idea is to encourage the girls, helping them build teamwork skills, resilience, confidence, and to have some fun. With an inclusive & inspiring community cheering their budding baseball stars on, Canadian Girls Baseball knocks it out of the park!