Jays Care Foundation Challenger Baseball Program
This project's parent organization is Jay's Care Foundation
It operates in Canada
It uses Baseball
Entered the Sport for Equality Award
More about Jays Care Foundation Challenger Baseball Program
Within Canada, approximately 13.7% of the population lives with a disability. Of those individuals, there are 250,000 children and youth living with a disability. At this time, more than 65% of people with disabilities are not participating in sport.
One of the reasons behind these staggering statistics is a lack of access. Challenger Baseball is designed to remove that obstacle by offering adaptive baseball programming in as many locations as possible. By leveraging Jays Care’s relationships with Little League Canada, Baseball Canada and a wide network of schools across the Country, we have increased access to inclusive and empowering sport programming to approximately 4,000 children and youth. Across 98 leagues, 17 schools and 10 provinces, children and youth attend Challenger Baseball throughout a full season. Their trained coaches and supportive Buddies structure the program to encourage independence, goal setting and relationship building. Families often speak about Challenger Baseball reducing a pervasive sense of isolation, as well as empowering their children to discover their own athleticism and self-efficacy.