Jayda Lee, 16, is Newfoundland and Labrador’s flag bearer at the upcoming Canada Games. (Submitted by Amanda Lee)
A rising baseball superstar from St. John’s boasts two honors as he heads to the upcoming Canada Games in Niagara, Ontario. — she carries the flag for Newfoundland and Labrador in the opening ceremonies and is the first woman to play on a men’s team at the event.
Jayda Lee, 16, is becoming a household name in baseball circles across the province and is no stranger to mixing it up in the boys baseball divisions during her playing career so far.
In 2021, she scored the lone win for the Newfoundland and Labrador U-17 baseball team at an Atlantic tournament in Dartmouth, North Carolina. She was the first woman to win this honor.
Now she is preparing for the national stage.
“I feel like when you’re under pressure it matters more. I’m more focused and zoned out, so I just perform better,” Lee told CBC News on Friday.
“It’s exciting. It feels good.”
Lee attributes his success thus far simply to playing a lot of baseball. Every summer up until that point, she played with several girls and boys teams.
“Most people only get about 20 games, but growing up I got about 80 every summer,” she said.
“It helps overall development. On top of that [you get] many more trips.”
Down the line, Lee hopes to break into the national Canadian baseball program — something she’s already experienced from playing with the prospect team — and looks ahead to playing college ball.
Jayda Lee of St. John’s is the standard bearer for pic.twitter.com/wlG0z9cPTO
—@TCAR_GovNL
Carrying the flag, breaking barriers
Lee couldn’t contain her smile when asked about the honor of being named the province’s flag bearer at the August 6 opening ceremonies.
“I was definitely excited. It’s definitely an honor,” she said.
What’s more, other young girls across the country are connecting with Lee, seeing her as someone who is breaking down barriers for women in sports.
Jayda Lee will compete on the men’s team, becoming the first woman in the event’s history to do so. (Submitted by Amanda Lee)
“I’ve had several younger girls from all over Canada write to me, especially after the flag bearer thing came up, saying they bought tickets to come watch,” she said.
“I hope they see that it can happen if they strive to be better and keep pushing and training.”
At home, she doesn’t get a second glance from players, coaches or parents when she goes up against boys’ teams, but, she said, on trips to other provinces, it’s something that still happens.
“There are definitely a few parents going, ‘is that a girl?’ Mainly on the field you don’t hear anything, but when I’m pitching you’ll hear in the dugout ‘is that a girl?’ or whatever,” she said.
“But when I actually throw the ball — I don’t know if I can say — shut up — everybody shuts up.”
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