April 6, 2024

By Melissa Verge

Canadian Baseball Network

Growing up playing baseball, Liz Gilder knew how isolating it could be to be the only girl on the team.

An error on the mound or at the plate felt like it was amplified for the young athlete, who’s played for Team B.C. since 2013, and Team Canada since 2018.

Although the guys she played with were supportive, it was always in the back of her mind that she was different, Gilder said. And because of that, those errors felt magnified x10.

It wasn’t until she was a 12-year-old head hunted for Team B.C. that she discovered there were other girls out there like her, talented and passionate about baseball. And playing in that space, with other like-minded girls, gave her the confidence to be herself.

Those early experiences have motivated her to where she is today — one of the faces behind the B.C. Girls Baseball League, the first of its kind in the province.

“This league creates an opportunity for girls to be able to see other girls [playing baseball] to empower each other, to grow together and to normalize girls playing baseball,” Gilder said, who is working as the league coordinator.

The space is needed, as more girls continue to pick up baseballs, and take the field with their male counterparts.

Since 2019 up until last year, there’s been approximately a 742% increase in the number of female identifying players in the province, she said.

“If you build it they will come” - they’ve already had extensive interest since the league was announced last month, she said, with play set to begin in June.

The eight-week league will be unique, in that it will be all girls playing girls. Their home base will be in Surrey at Lionel Courchene Park, and they’re hoping that 10-to-15 teams will sign up from across the lower mainland. There’s an opportunity for teams to sign up, but also “free agents” where individuals can sign up, and those free agents can form their own team.

It’s been top of mind for a long time, said Scott Mackenzie, director of operations with Baseball B.C. The aim is for the local associations to take it over eventually, and it will blossom into the way the boys structure is currently in the province, he said.

The goal with the league is about more than playing baseball. It’s to really empower girls off the baseball field, Mackenzie said.

“Through this league we’re trying to create more of a safe environment that encourages the girls to be more comfortable, and empower the young woman to have the confidence and life skills to be leaders in the real world,” Mackenzie said.

“We hope that this league kind of offers them that opportunity so that they can kind of be who they want to be, and believe that they can do anything they want.”

Gilder knows the impact of playing alongside other girls and young women first-hand.

Not only did her experiences with Team B.C. and the Women’s National Team give her female role models to look up to on the diamond, but a safe space where she could pursue her love for the sport.

And it’s led her here today, working in baseball, as a league coordinator for the B.C. Girls Baseball League.

“When I played with girls I was finally able to almost be myself,” Gilder said. “And that created a sense of, I think, relief for myself, and I think also being exposed to the girls program gave me a place to look up to.”

Interested girls can register here for 9U (born in 2017, 2016, and 2015) and for 12U (born in 2014, 2013, and 2012.) Registration is also on the Baseball B.C. website.