On Deck – Learn to Play Baseball
Welcome to the Ontario Women’s Baseball League new player page! We’re the longest continuous all-female baseball league in existence in Canada and we’re looking to expand in 2024!
Who should join? Women, Trans-Women, or other non-male identifying people who want to be active, meet new people, and join a team. You should be willing to learn and push yourself! We are welcoming players and teams ranging from no experience to highly experienced. Our league consists of newbies, softball players, baseball moms, players returning after extended leaves from the sport, and players who have played baseball their whole life.
Currently, our league has a competitive division, and depending on interest we will add a recreational division. We have also created the On Deck – Learn to Play Baseball program for new players to learn the sport.
The On Deck program will initially consist of 8 weeks of baseball fundamentals (e.g. throwing, hitting, catching) taught by players volunteers in our competitive OWBL division. Each week you will work on different baseball skills and at the end of the 8 weeks, you will play ball in modified exhibition games to put what you learned into action. You will need to become familiar with the Rules of the Game and can also get a head start training at home by watching our videos on our YouTube Channel, Baseball with Toronto Fusion.
The On Deck program is open to new and existing players. The fee to participate in the On Deck program is $225. Existing players registered in regular league play can participate in On Deck for no additional fee.
ON DECK PROGRAM SCHEDULE FOR 2024
STARTS: May 8th, 2024
DURATION: Every Wednesday until September 4, 2024 (16 on-field sessions and an end of season celebration)
LOCATION: Queensway Park @ 8 Avon Park Drive (The Queensway/Royal York Rd)
TIME: 6:15pm to 7:30pm
Each session will have a theme but will not necessarily only focus on the skills listed below. This is simply a guide so you have an idea of what each session will entail.
May 8, 2024 = Session 1 – Throwing / Catching / Ground Balls
May 15, 2024 = Session 2 – Outfielding / Infielding / Fly Balls
May 22, 2024 = Session 3 – Hitting
May 29, 2024 = Session 4 – More Hitting
June 5, 2024 = Session 5 – Base Running
June 12, 2024 = Session 6 – Relays / Basic Situational Plays
June 19, 2024 = Session 7 – Pitching / Catcher Skills
June 26, 2024 = Session 8 – Even More Hitting / Bunting
July 3, 2024 = Game 1 – Let’s put everything we’ve learned into a game!
July 10, 2024 = Game 2
July 17, 2024 = Session 9 – Revisit some skills we need to work on
July 24, 2024 = Week Off
July 31, 2024 = Game 3
August 7, 2024 = Game 4
August 14, 2024 = Session 10 – Revisit some skills we need to work on
August 21, 2024 – Game 5
August 28, 2024 – Game 6
September 4, 2024 – End of program celebration
Notes on Equipment: Players must wear long pants to each session/game. Baseball pants are great, but sweatpants or other athletic pants are okay too. Cleats are highly recommended. A baseball glove is also good to bring if you have one. But if not, we will have extra gloves people can borrow. If you’d like some tips on where to purchase these items (new or used), reach out to us by email and we can give you some suggestions.
Cancellations: Our diamonds are all outdoors. In the event of a cancellation due to weather, we may relocate to an indoor location such as a nearby bar or indoor location to have fun, discuss baseball skills or just hang out. We will try our best to reschedule the cancelled sessions onto another time when OWBL has diamonds, potentially a Monday or later on Wednesday night.
Note: As you develop in the program, you may be eligible for playing in regular league games for an additional fee if interested.
