Sport Venture’s Ehrlo Baseball Rookie League (EBRL) was one of 14 rookie leagues selected from across the country to participate in the Jays Care Foundation Indigenous Rookie League (IRL) coordinator training.  

Chase Pelletier, sports league coordinator with Ehrlo Sport Venture (ESV), travelled to Toronto’s Rogers Centre last month to participate in the training hosted by the Jays Care Foundation, a charitable arm of the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club.

The Foundation funds programs nationwide to provide marginalized children and youth with opportunities to play ball in their local communities. Since 2018, Jays Care has sponsored the EBRL, making significant and impactful contributions each year. 

The IRL training was an opportunity for Chase to hear the experiences of rookie leagues from across Canada, and to share EBRL’s own success stories.

“It was a great experience for me,” he said from the ESV office. “There was a lot of conversation about how others operate their leagues and I got to share the experiences of our league, but I suppose the biggest takeaway was to hear from the IRL and understand their goals and values.”

Chase said he learned a lot about the Jays Care Foundation and their organizational values and expectations for its program partners. Because he joined ESV last year, mid-ball season, Chase didn’t have the opportunity to learn from the Foundation firsthand. This experience, he said, was invaluable.

“They’re focused on providing opportunities to youth and connecting communities, which aligns with what we’re trying to do here in Regina,” he said. “They talked about league promotion, how to raise awareness, target audiences, and effectively recruit volunteers.”

While Sport Venture’s EBRL is firmly established, Chase said it was beneficial to hear stories of how other leagues facilitate community connection and manage sportsmanship on the fields.

“It was really cool to hear stories about how they run their leagues. It was great to hear about how other leagues deal with competitiveness on the field from players and from parents. They shared some great methods that I’d like to try here.”

Overall, Chase said the experience was an incredible one.

“It was great to meet people from around Canada putting on leagues like ours’ and helping Indigenous youth, but the Foundation also did a really good job of giving us more than a training experience,” he explained. “We had a chance to watch a couple of Jays games, I got a hat signed by Justin Turner, and we also got the chance to go onto the field and watch batting practice before the game.”

“The whole experience was just awesome,” he concluded. “The relationship between ESV and Jays Care is special because our goals and our visions align. We’re both trying to accomplish the same thing by creating better access to sport while promoting the healthy development of children through intergenerational connections and community collaboration.”

Registration for the 2024 EBRL will open soon, stay tuned to ehrlo.com/sport-venture for coming details.