The focus of the Jays Care Foundation is youth, with a little extra emphasis on marginalized communities.

And it’s the belief of Annette King of the Yukon’s Child and Youth Advocate Office, that if you want to plan something to benefit kids, it’s best to let the kids do the planning.

That’s exactly what happened.

Of course King and her office were involved, as was Robert Witchel, the executive director of the Jays foundation.

And both are involved in planning the trip for four local youth leaders heading to Toronto for the Jay’s home game this Friday to complete the dirt swap that began here last Friday in the McIntyre subdivision.

Witchel and others with the Care Foundation brought up dirt from around home plate at Toronto’s Rogers Centre to spread at the new ball field laid down in the McIntyre subdivision, with the help of $53,500 from the foundation.

In return, the four youth will be packing dirt collected from ball diamonds here to spread around home plate at the Rogers Centre during the opening ceremony to kick off Friday’s game. One of them will be throwing out the first pitch.

“There’s going to be a little chunk of Yukon for that game,” Witchel said in an interview Saturday at the Softball Yukon Pepsi Complex during a softball tournament of the seven teams who came together through the winter under the leadership and guidance of Yukon youth aged 11 to 13.

“That is the first time we have done that dirt exchange.”

The Yukon Rookie League, as it’s come to be known, began taking shape a couple of years ago following the release of the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

It was the child advocate office in Ontario that put King in touch with the Jays Care Foundation, and the ball started rolling.

King said in April, 2017, four local young leaders and advisors were recruited. And it was under their guidance and planning that the Rookie League took shape.

Last October, 14 kids from across the Yukon – all of them Indigenous – were in Whitehorse for a workshop on leadership, and what the Yukon Rookie League would look like.

It was followed in this past February with another workshop of 30 Grade 7 students learning about recruiting players, leading practices and taking on different roles, such as coaching.

“They went back to their communities and schools and built their teams, and practised,” King explained.

The Yukon Rookie League and its 80 players took to the diamonds Saturday, following Friday’s ceremony to celebrate the refurbished diamond for the Kwanlin Dün First Nation community.

Half the dirt collected from the home fields of the seven rookie teams was spread on the new field, the other half is heading to Toronto.

“We are incredibly proud of the kids who are taking part, especially the youth leaders who have done a phenomenal job of inspiring their teams and getting them out on a regular basis to play,” said Witchel.

“It instills a love of sport and encourages them to keep involved in sport.”

King said the push behind the rookie league is in keeping with the recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and the United Nation’s convention regarding a child’s right to play, and right to culture.

It has resulted in the development of young leaders and role models, she said.

“With their leadership, we want to promote the right to play,” King said. “If individuals can lead the right to play, then we have future leaders.”

Witchel said the Jays Care Foundation is focused on children and youth, and kids facing barriers in their lives. It will spend about $7 million across Canada this year.

The foundation has put about $125,000 into the programming for the Yukon Rookie League, including the $53,500 to refurbish the ball diamond, he said.

“We run programming in every province and two territories now.”

Witchel said while the 25-year-old foundation is part of the Blue Jays organization – their offices are in the Rogers Centre – the foundation raises its money through fundraising efforts, corporate and individual donations and the like.

The 50-50 draws held by the Care Foundation during home games is the most successful of all 50-50 draws in Major League Baseball, he pointed out.

Witchel said a recent gala held on the Jays field with 1,500 guests generated $1.5 million.

Meanwhile, a separate arm of the Blue Jays, the Blue Jays Baseball Academy, was in Whitehorse Monday and today conducting a baseball camp to teach 105 youth the fundamentals of baseball.

Four former Jays – pitcher Duane Ward, second baseman Roberto Alomar and fielders Lloyd Moseby and Jessie Barfield – were here to lead the camp, and they did. They were on the field teaching throwing, hitting, fielding....

Ward explained in an interview this morning while there is plenty of softball played in the territory, baseball is a different game altogether.

But they also want to encourage the young ball players to get better, to find ways to get better, he said.

“What we want to impress on them is finding ways to get better.”

And just before the camp got going, a young player proudly sporting his Blue Jays gear and an old Jays jacket, walked by and commented to Barfield.

“That was a good game last night.”

“Sure was,” the former right fielder responded. The Jays defeated the Houston Astros 6-3.