A mine field – or court – for girls to traverse

As proud of my daughter as I am in her Baseball abilities, enamored by her continued love of the game, how far can she go playing organized sports: her opportunities to excel in our society are not found in her preferred sport.

Look at what it takes for any girl to be recognized in co-ed Baseball in one’s community – the opportunities to play Baseball with other girls in challenging mostly all-boy teams with the WBL-Sparks and succeeding there are no different than what is expected of teams that have been playing together for months if not years, building a foundation on the best their own community offer up to the most competitive situations.

It is satisfying playing the game in the most encouraging and hospitable environments – or only to be challenged by the best. But this is is too rare an opportunity for girls who prefer Baseball in our American culture.

It might not be this way if in our society girls simply came out to play Baseball – whatever drives them to it.

Girls do attend practices more than once a week in every community across the nation in Basketball, Soccer, Volleyball – there are other sports but these are probably the most popular of the more physically demanding team sports, played competitively, today.

There are reasons for this that are historic and each sport has evolved and emerged from a Recreational form to a highly competitive one. It is intentional providing girls equal access to the same rules and expectations as boys. In these other sports girls have the opportunity to demonstrate parity – if not while playing with boys at the same time.

The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) has provided the framework allowing non-Academic special teams to thrive within each of your communities in Basketball for example.

In San Francisco, one Recreation and Park facility has established a feeder program allowing Middle School girls access to some of the best High School programs in the city. In conjunction with the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) many players find themselves in line to be considered for school scholarships.

This is because they know their designated position (1 of 5 in Basketball) and their plays and work drills quickly to make it from one end of the court to the other faster than their opponents. They have that opportunity thanks to the AAU, its local and regional member organizations, which challenges them to play beyond a recreational randomness.

Getting the ball in the hoop is of course the most important developed skill – or is it?

We discovered AAU Basketball when we learned that one of the most skilled girls we know of playing Baseball since early childhood has made the tough decision in giving up her favorite sport for the opportunities to become a honed competitor in Basketball and Soccer, to leverage her skills in both of these sports to advance onto Parochial High School teams.

Our daughter, the product of Public School, and not particularly geared for a Catholic School orientation, sees the opportunity to develop in Basketball as a way to support her Middle School as one of the leaders in her school community, as the plethora of 8th Grade players departs – the school’s Athletic Director building towards another 8th Grade team a few years down the road: after our daughter has departed and found her own unique pathway in High School.

She sees the opportunity to develop higher skills within the AAU program as unique and worth investing time, energy, commitment (and our money) towards fulfilling emerging goals, barely formed in her mind, in her experience.

To recall her most competitive experience playing with the WBL-Sparks, with notable expert Baseball players from throughout the globe, discovering the strategy that a coach will implement – a blend of skill, experience; teaching and mentoring; politics and self-preservation – to define the strongest unit, stick to it and build a rhythm over a number of games, days: at the expense (again, including money) of those equally committed and ready to deliver the goods: our daughter has discovered what is expected of our youth by the competitive Youth Sports machines we are asked to hand them over to in leveraging these amorphous entities hedging success later in our children’s lives.

Australia as Pathfinder for Girls and Women in Baseball in the World Today

From the news down under, Australia is building a foundation for girls and women who prefer Baseball to Softball like no other country. I challenge anyone to prove otherwise.

The recent smash success of their 2007 U15 Division gathering shows just how strong Baseball is across their landscape of “Club” Baseball that is all-inclusive of girls, women, boys and men: it is a family activity to play Baseball and the novice to advanced amateur are equally welcome.

When the Ausie Hearts came through San Francisco for the first time two years ago, and followed up in 2007, we were honored by their presence. Watching the women practicing on the 90 foot and the girls practicing on the 70 foot fields at our fog-enhanced Moscone Recreation Center last Fall, Jeneane Lesko mentoring them as their national stars put the women through their paces, each clad in fresh white pants, singular in their blue and red jerseys, jackets and hats, it was awesome and distinct, setting a distinctive tone.

Upon the return to Australia after the first Ausie Hearts tour of the US, its participants were determined to utilize the momentum and enthusiasm. The parents and participants on the local level stayed in contact and worked constantly to build the fabric of a network. Girls throughout Australia could then come together and play Baseball in an annual event. Its success left its participants energized to return home and tell of what opportunities exist for girls and women who love the game.

Those determined to prop up Baseball as an all-boy or male activity can learn a lot from the example set by our neighbors to the south. they are building community across all demographics including girls and women as equal partners. Each person embraces the skill development only Baseball requires. Respect for that accomplishment is earned by each person who steps up to the plate even just to give it a go.

Video – “Women’s Baseball League Gives Bay Area Girls Hardball Skills” KPIX CBS 5 San Francisco

May 15, 2006, 5:05 PT – San Francisco Youth Baseball League – All-girls Division highlight and local interest story by Mindi Bach featuring Rocky Henley, Commissioner, and players of the California Women’s Baseball League, Alex Sickinger and Giavanna Hampton of the San Francisco Fillies.

Girl’s At Bat Called on Account of Rain…

OK: I’m still not in touch with my emotions on this: my daughter, at her second at bat during yesterday, during the Spring 2006 San Francisco Youth Baseball League (SFYBL) Coed Baseball All-Star game (the only girl selected by her team mates city-wide), the plate umpire called a conference with the other umpires to decide on the new torrent of rain coming down.

It is fitting that the All-Star game should be rained out, considering the unbelievable amount of continuous rain we had this Spring – over 100 days of hard, constant rain – cloud formations never before visible in our skies this time of year.

The game did start about 40 minutes late – the Visiting Team designated coach didn’t show up in time, so, after a significant delay, the coach from the team tied for second winningest in the league stepped up and coached the team.

No one should fault the coach who didn’t show up (though s/he could have called – maybe they did…): the city was hosting both a music festival in Golden Gate Park and our annual Bay to Breakers cross-city 7 mile race was still going strong – both, just down the street from our game – when the All-Stars and coaches and families were gathering at West Sunset Playground Field #3: getting through or around the closed off roads – crossing the backed up traffic due to the man-made conditions – made it a challenge to even the most seasoned San Francisco driver (- they even closed off the Pacific Ocean passage, known ad the Great Highway where the race officially ends.)

I am clearly digressing – but it is to say that were it not for the delay in game what happened in the last at bat might not have happened at all…

The only girl selected by her team (let’s just qualify this for the same of fairness: the only one who was selected; who was available to play as scheduled; didn’t run into the same logistical constraints or who/’s family decided showed up: we will never know. But, since there seems to be only a hand-full of girls playing in the Coed division – in contrast to the 40+ girls playing in the All Girls division), and we have seen all of them in action, it is probably that at least one of the other girls simply didn’t make it…) was respectfully representative of her gender; her City’s openness; her leagues 1st place team; her team mate – all boys: and, simply, a Baseball Player…

Her first at bat was as distinguished as possible. The West Sunset Playground, where our main character plays, houses two “distinct” teams: Red and Blue are the designations. Historically, Blue has meant Established, Strong, Instinctual; Red has meant Newly-formed; Developmental and Formative. This season, the Red team is holding its own.

As it turns out, the first pitcher she faced was clearly the best pitcher in the entire SFYBL from the same West Sunset division of the SFYBL, but from the Blue Team – as described above. He had control, power; balance and creativity as his pitches went exactly where he intended them to go. It was fitting that the only girl on the All-Star team (realize that it is the team mates who pick the players for this esteemed event), who is also a pitcher, who also pitched and pitched well, during the All-Star game was facing him.

She was called out on the last pitch as it clipped the outer front corner of the plate – simply unhitable and something no batter should chase for certain reprimand from one’s coach would ensue. One of her former coaches, father of the pitcher debatably equal to the Blue co-team member on the mound, standing in plain view of the interaction, contended that her at bat was as sound and legitimate – as logically attended to – as anyone could have had against such a strong pitching opponent.

Anyway, she did get the opportunity to pitch during the All-Star game which was awesome to watch: she shut down three out of four batters with confidence and finesse.

When our daughter was in Third Grade, she asked if we should start an all-girls Baseball league, together…

When our daughter was in Third Grade, she asked if we should start an all-girls Baseball league, together. I replied that we could but I wanted to see how far we could go with the existing Youth Baseball organizations in San Francisco. Having only one Fall Ball season under her belt, I volunteered to coach our kids in the San Francisco Little League (SFLL) and was accepted with the nominal experience as both athlete and coach.

She went on her way, designing team logos, experimenting with team names: she was raring to go. I thought offering to coach would be a great first step, figure out how a league was organized. Having at least one girl on the team would be a great way to discover how far the league was going to allow girls to achieve greatness.

When I went to my first Rookie draft night, I had the chance to pick two other girls for the team, who I picked early on in the draft. The dead silence in the room (I had already put our daughter around 7 in the draft – her brother as a pre-selected 4) seemed to indicate that I had caved, picking two girls, who, if evaluated only on the merits of their Skills Evaluation Session tests, were not right for the higher draft positions: it wasn’t that the room, all guys but for the woman Division Commissioner – and one of the team’s Co-coaches, was inherently biased towards girl Baseball players (or so I hoped at the time).

After the draft, the Commissioner, who was also the league Administrator, would not relent, asking me three times if our daughter might not want to play Softball instead (I didn’t know this at the time, but, the Softball division had grown very large, very fast, in just a few years.) “It is a lot of fun, playing with the girls,” she repeated. I respectfully declined, on our daughter’s behalf, stating over and over and over again that our daughter had no interest in playing Softball and preferred playing Baseball. Period.

For the next three years, contrasted with the apparent disparity in opportunities on the field, between the opportunities for girls and boys, we looked for other opportunities in our local area for our daughter.

In August 2005, The California Women’s Baseball League presented an opportunity to assemble a team of girls to play in an exhibition game with girls traveling from Australia. (They were on their way to Florida for the Women’s World Series.) That game, that took place in October 2005, lead to our efforts to start an all-girls Baseball league. I began to look for examples of existing, successful all-girls Baseball leagues, hoping to leverage the team assembled for the exhibition game to start the league, but, also, as the foundation for a touring Tournament team that could compete head-on with Boys Baseball teams.

What I discovered in my search for successful all-girls Baseball leagues was strong interest among families similarly affected by the dirth of opportunities for girls to play Baseball in their communities. By contrast, communities that were not supportive at all of girls playing Baseball, while throwing their weight behind Softball opportunities for girls, didn’t even let the girls know they have the option – the right – to play Youth Baseball: even, until they reach the age of 18.

This lead to our support of the recent, local efforts to launch a city-wide, Park & Recreation-supported all-girls Baseball division of the San Francisco Youth Baseball League (SFYBL).

Also, we have found a lot of support for girls who play Baseball in the Co-ed division of the SFYBL, where our daughter also receives supportive coaching and the opportunity to demonstrate her abilities: to be treated as a Player.

We found Tournament Baseball teams and training facilities in our region, but the high costs, tricky logistics, and tentative opportunities to play in games, make this a riskier proposition, whether a boy or a girl working hard to achieve greatness on the field of Baseball. The fierce competition in the Tournament realm seems to have the side effect of not encouraging kids simply to have a fun time playing Baseball.

The mandate of Little League seems different than the enticement of Tournament Baseball teams and training facilities – not to mention what we have learned from the experiences mentioned above; to quote from the Little League, Inc., web site:

“…Little League estimates the number of girls currently participating in Little League Baseball programs to be about 100,000…”

Yes, you read it right: Baseball – NOT Softball… “…in 1974…the [Little League, Inc.] baseball rules and regulations were made non-gender specific…” “…The move came amid lively debates on women’s rights. It was three years after President Nixon signed Title IX into law, giving women greater opportunities to receive scholarships and funding for college athletics. It also was three years after the Equal Rights Amendment was passed by the U.S. Congress and sent to the individual states for ratification…”

The goal of Girls Play Baseball Dot Com is to make certain that girls who want to and do play Baseball are aware that they have a right to fair and equal access to the game, no matter which league, division or public association they want to try out for – either Co-ed or All-Girls; Little League or Pony League; Cal Ripken or Babe Ruth; T-Ball or Seniors; Private or Public leagues.