Matt, thanks for the comment. Just an FYI - you should consider yourself a feminist if you support equal opportunities for both sexes - that is what feminism means :)

>>When it comes to leveling the playing field between genders, it
>>seems that while changing the policy can happen, changing
>>perceptions will take much longer.

Yup, in more than just the field of sports...


Matt, embrace the title "feminist"  My husband is a proud & LOUD feminist!!

I’m sorry but this kind of stuff actually bothers me a bit, and being a girl that may seem odd.  I certainly think girls deserve the same opportunities as boys in education, athletics, and life in general, and we still have a lot of work to do (but things are far better for girls now than they were a few decades ago).   This girl has a softball team to play on, so why does she need to draw all this attention?  My brother loves volleyball, played it constantly growing up.  There was no boy’s team for him in High School, but was he allowed to play with the girls…no, he wasn’t.  In fact there was no media coverage, no people outraged, no federal lawsuit.  He was simply told he couldn’t play, end of story.  Is that fair?  I was upset for him.  Why do some girls think they have to prove themselves by playing against boys?  We water down female leagues when the best female athletes want to play with the boys.  Take Michelle Wie for example.  She hasn’t even won a major LPGA event, but feels compelled to play on the Men’s tour (and miss the cut week in week out).  Is this good for female sports?   I would love to see the playing field leveled for everyone (boys and girls), but we need to fight the truly important battles.  Not some prissy girl that wants what she wants, not realizing that she already has a great opportunity to play with other great female athletes.

I am sorry you feel that way Ashley as that kind of thinking will keep the typical females sterotype going. Change needs to be made at every corner/opportunity. I am glad there is a parent out there with enough money to fight for their child's right (male or female). . . I stand up for my children and you better believe if my daughter wanted to play a so called boy's sport in high school, I would have been right there fighting for her. And yes, I would have taken it to the media and did what ever I could. No, I would not have hired an attorney but I would have, if it wasn't for lack of money.

Softball and Baseball are two different sports. Don't think cuz it is a softer ball that it is an easier game. The ball is pitched different, it is harder to hit farther, and carries different rules than baseball. I am not saying that baseball is an easier sport either. The bases are farther apart in baseball, but the ball travels farther when hit by the bat than a softball does (at the same equilvancy).

My oldest daughter played T-ball (baseball, softball not offered at that age). She continued into the minors and then was picked up to play for the All-Stars on the girl's softball team. How fair is that to the other girls that were already playing softball as there choosen sport? I was outraged, but my daughter agreed. Personally I think it was because the board wanted to push her into that sport. She was showing up the boys. She played softball for two years. It was ok she said, but would prefer to play baseball. I went to the president of the little league and told him my duaghter wanted to play baseball. The district rep said there was nothing they could do to prevent my daughter from playing baseball. "Let her, why not." Yeah! The district rep was a female. I can only imagine what would of happen if it would have been a close minded male. Anyway, I also became the coach (could have even been the manager, but I was content to just be a coach - mainly cuz I was not as familiar with the sport and feel the most qualified person should be in charge). The boys didn't take to me right away, but once I showed them I could play, it changed. They accepted my daughter right away. Did not have a problem with her at all. She was one of the boys. A little less than half way through the season they accepted me too. As it turned out I ended up deciding fielding positions and determining the line up. They finally started winning. Guess I was the more qualified, or at least I looked at the individual player to determine their ability. They were much happier and thus they played better. And did I mention that this was the pony league (15-16 year olds).

No she did not play at the high school level, but if she wanted to I would have backed her all the way. I would fight for anyone who wanted to participate in any activity as long as they were physically able (male/female).

I personal had to fight the school to be permitted to join wood/metal shop in school. Was told they offered cooking/sewing. Why would I want to take those courses when my Mom/Grandmother could teach me? We had a stove and a sewing machine at home, but we did not have the tools found in the wood/metal shop. It was me, my Mom and Sister. I already knew how to cook and sew. My response was, why are the boys permitted to take cooking/sewing class if I cannot take wood/metal. They didn't have an answer and thus had to premit me to take the course. I was then joined by another female classmate. Since then more females have taken the wood/metal shop.

So see, you look at this as some prissy girl (though if she wants to play baseball, she is far from prissy) wanting her own way, but the reality is she just wants to be treated fairly. I say, "You Go Girl!

I just needed to add something else about these two sports. If you think these sports are treated equally, then why are most softball teams in shorts? Do girls not slid? Is their skin tougher that it does not bruise or cut?

I am glad that our high school team wears pants (my younger daughter played on that team). Though she did wear shorts in her summer league, but we had to go out and purchase her a knee/thigh support to cover her leg for when she slid. Diamond tex is hard and it will tear up your leg when slidding.

Are you going to find a baseball team that wears shorts? I honestly do not think so.

And yes, I fight for for equal rights amoung the sports (amoung all the activities). Each player is a student at the school, thus should be treated equal, male/female.

Sorry Trystina, I happen to disagree with some of what you said.  It’s not that you or I am wrong or right, it is simply a matter of opinion.  I know that in my lifetime, I have had more doors opened for me than my brother has (via things like Title IX).  I am not a woman hater, I don’t worship men and do as they say; I am a strong and independent person and realize that there are many problems in our society and many double-standards.  You said, “I would fight for anyone who wanted to participate in any activity as long as they were physically able (male/female).”  Let’s explore this idea; imagine your daughter played volleyball her whole life and couldn’t wait to play in High School.  Her High School has no boys team, so boys are allowed to try out (remember; Title IX is not about women’s right, it is about discrimination against either sex—so, men/boys should have the same protection, even thought we know they don’t).   Your daughter does not make the team, because they needed room for one of the boys that tried out.  Are you going to just accept this and tell your daughter, “sorry sweetie, maybe next year.”  NO!  You’ll be the first person running to the Administration of the school, the Media, a lawyer, and anyone who will listen, crying about how your little girl was wronged.  So, I know that you really don’t mean what you said. 

My point about this particular girl may have not been obvious in my previous post.  I think this girl should be happy with the opportunities she has, a lot of girls don’t have the same opportunities.  There are more important things to fight for.  How about girls being sexually mutilated in Africa?  Thousands of girls a day are tortured, but we really need to settle this baseball/softball problem first.

I read a quote from the A.D. at the school involved in this debate, and the question was asked “if a boy wanted to play softball, would you let him.”  After a nice long diatribe dancing around the issue, the A.D. basically said “No.”  You OK with that Trystina?  Besides, doesn’t this girl realize that college is expensive?  If she’s that good, she’d have a lot better chance getting a softball scholarship than a baseball scholarship.  Unless we believe that she will be able to compete with bigger, stronger, and faster men at the college level (I’m not saying she can’t, but that would be a pretty impressive accomplishment).    

I still believe, and always will, that women leaving female sports just to measure themselves against their male counterparts are just plain selfish.  When we lose the best female players, all women suffer.  Do you want to see Candice Parker leave the WNBA just to go be a bench warmer in the NBA?  No way!  I think that she is the greatest female basketball player of all time and I think that Michael Jordan is the greatest male player of all time.  There is a distinction here.  Candice is great, I love watching her compete against her peers.  Michelle Wie has tried and failed.  Wouldn’t you love to see her up against Annika and Lorena Ochoa?  I would, much better than missing the cut each week (that makes me really proud as a woman).  Now, race car driving, I’m all for that.  Danica Patrick and the other great female drivers should feel free to race with the boys, because the physical difference between men and women are not as important.   

Sorry to sound so mean, I’m just passionate for men’s and women’s rights and I happen to disagree with your point of view.  I am glad your daughter has a lot more opportunities than you had and countless women throughout history.  And BTW…I believe that my way of thinking eliminates female stereotyping more than yours does.  After a certain age, pitting boys and girls against each other in many sports merely points out that girls are smaller, weaker, and slower than boys (typically).  If you put a girl in the arena of athletic competition and she fails miserably, does that get rid of the “throws like a girl” mentality? Do you honestly believe that Candice or any other great WNBA player could compete in the NBA?  Not a chance. 

There is nothing I can think of that is more national than baseball in America - other than the inalienable rights or natural laws our society is founded on.  Baseball is an expression of those rights and laws.
When any democracy denies access to an institution as vital and pervasive as baseball has, by chance and determination, become in America, the refusal to accept the disenfranchised as equals takes over and the matter is no longer about the trivial matter of a girl preferring baseball to softball, despite the inconvenience - or a boy's disappointment with not being to play volleyball representing his school team.
My own daughter was faced with mixed feelings and sentiments among her good friends, the boys affected, for just these two cases, in Middle School; the confusion under the circumstances obfuscated my daughter's victory and constitutional right to play baseball - or, at least, to try out for the team.
Unfortunately, only when faced with the barrier to entry the matter comes to the fore-front, and takes on grave significance, and resistance from those unsupportive of girls who prefer playing baseball to any other sport.
In this year, alone, Indiana has been recognized for initially barred two girls from trying out for their baseball teams; it has also looked the other way when a girl wanted to play recreation baseball - in each case, requiring Constitutional lawyers to intervene to instate the girl's access to baseball.
By stark contrast, in California, a girl is not impeded from playing baseball in High School - she is permitted access to tryout and, if she has reached a level of competence, she will be encouraged and supported by her community; her coach; Athletic Director, Principal or head of School. Or, they will have to accept that she be provided equal treatment, whether they like it or not
There are approximately an equal number of girls who play softball in American high schools as boys who play baseball. The number of girls who play baseball has peaked at almost 2000 in a given school year: on, otherwise, all-boy baseball teams. However, the organization that is responsible for gathering and maintaining these figures, the National Federation of State High School Associations, is cynical in their approach towards girls who play baseball: it is up to the member states' organizations to provide them with the accurate figures. Yet, there is no record of the girls playing baseball on par with that of the boys, or the girls who play softball, because the record of the girl who plays baseball is not maintained with the same consideration and seriousness.
Why is there a double standard: why are girls not supported in playing baseball? Why are girls not only encouraged to play softball but are not informed of their opportunity and federally-protected right to play baseball from the earliest experiences in youth baseball and Little League - let alone in academic settings, in Middle and High School?
In a recent op-ed piece...:
American Girls Play Catch-up, by Jennifer Ring
...some of these questions are considered - the discussion is fully addressed in a book, soon to be released, Stolen Bases: Why American Girls Don’t Play Baseball, also, by Jennifer Ring.
Jim Nemerovski - http://www.girlsplaybaseball.org

This is touching and it bothers me. I have two beautiful daughters ages 9 and 7. My 9 year old is in to sports and has always been. And her passion for sports is only getting stronger. We live in San Leandro, CA which is in the SF Bay Area. This is her fourth year playing baseball and is on teams that are co-ed. I have been told numerous of times that I should switch her to softball soon because it will be harder for her to adjust and that she will not be able to play baseball in high school...And other excuses I hear. First and foremost I teach both of my kids that they can do whatever they want in life, as long as they put there minds to it..it can be done. I have asked my 9 yr old plenty of times does she want to play softball. She does not want to play.. My husband and I have taken her to high school softball games and she just simply refuses. She tells us it is a different sport in which it is. We had a talk with her about her going to softball and she told me mommy you said I can do whatever I want to do so why can I not play baseball when I get in High school. I did not have the best answer so I continued with bay you can do whatever you want as long as you put your mind to it and encouraged her that we will talk about it when you get to that point. She has refused to play softball with the attitude that if I can not play baseball then I don't want to play softball and will do something else. The girl lovesssss baseball. She is great at it as well, she has fun, she listens to her coaches and has a big heart. I am afraid that when she gets into high school and if she still wants to play she will not be able to play...I just felt the need to share my story and this is again a great article...Thank you

I have no opinion on women's rights, in all honesty. I never really viewed women as anything but equal in the first place, so I'm not here to start a discussion on that.

That being said, I'm a big baseball fan. I'm always completely mystified as to why there aren't a bunch of girls already playing the game. They STARTED professional baseball in the first place! I'm silently waiting for a godlike female player to come in and open the floodgates in the MLB, personally -- we need more talent up here, and the fact that the MLB and America in general refuses to acknowledge that we're only surveying 1/2 the possible pool of talent is just baffling.

On that note... screw softball.

I totally agree that girls/women should be playing baseball. Every sport is just a game, and to discriminate who can play which game sounds kind of selfish, like a young child not sharing his toys.

Seperate leagues would have to be put in place though, for there to be any acceptance by men. Ultimately we all know that if someones daughter outplayed a man's son to make the team wouldn't go over well. The parent would be outraged, but the son would have trouble with his pride--pride being the one thing we men rely on. This is just the truth. I would love to have a daughter and to watch her play baseball, to see her have fun, and maybe in the future their will be a WMLB, where should go play.

So I say yes to girls baseball, but different leagues, just to be fair. Now this goes both ways. If a boy wishes to pick up a sport typically dominated by women, such as field hockey. If the interest is there start a team/league.

I think Rick's point is valid - to a point.

The practical reality of girls playing Baseball should not be understated. On the other hand, it should not be an impediment to change.

My daughter, age 15, is playing Baseball on her otherwise-all-boys High School team, at the Varsity level. She may be the only one playing in her division, in her city. During these past few weeks, she has also been playing with one of three elite training organizations and teams, the Senators.

She is the the first girl in 15 years to try out for (and, even more impressive, then make it onto) the Senators.

How she ended up on this team, rather than two other elite training organizations is the result of gender bias: both, overt and not-so-subtle – or, even putting her High School Fall Ball team second (she is totally committed to her Spring High School team, as the majority of the Fall Ball team members don't take it seriously – all boys - so why should she, at the expense of a truly challenging experience, one where she is treated with the most respect she has ever experienced on any team previously, from both coaches and players:

the story is not too dramatic, just the story of a player who comes out to try out, over three weeks, 8-2 hour-long, and a double-header scrimmage.

"She earned her own spot - she didn't take one from the boys," the head coach and missionary of this distinguished program.

But, she is still the youngest player - the oldest 19. So, she is being tracked according to her age, not gender; her physicality and level of fitness; not that as a girl she may perform different or lesser than the boys.

When she was not selected to travel with the team to a tournament 3 States away, it was because of her relative ability and also her age. No doubt, being a girl made it more challenging for her be considered, as we were not able to guarantee that we could chaperone her - something she didn't want to happen, anyway: if that were the case maybe she wouldn't want to go: "I don't understand why I can't go: I'm a big girl!"

There have been quite a number of tournament opportunities this past year she has been unable to attend: all the other tournaments are all-women tournaments around the country. But, as a Sophomore, her school work comes first; all of the women's tournaments took place while school was still in session. Although they were really intended for women, girls as young as 14 have been known to play on these teams.

There are two women's tournaments coming up in the next few months: the Phoenix Cup, in its fourth year, held by the Hong Kong Baseball Association; in Sydney, Australia, the local contingent of the Australia Baseball Federation, is holding an International Invitational tournament.

In February, a contingent from Canada will be visiting Cuba for a chance to develop relations and skills with the Cuban Women's team, after they had participated in the PanAmerican Federation;s Women's Beisbol tournament, which is happening now, as I write, with teams fro Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Puerto Rico.

In July, 2010, BaseballForAll, under the leadership of Justine Siegal, is conducting a 10-17 age training camp, prior to sending a 12U team to Cooperstown Dreams Park to compete with otherwise (almost) all-boys teams; the 17U team will travel to Puerto Rico, also, for a chance to develop relations and skills:

http://www.baseballforall.com

In addition to these opportunities, during the Summer, she plays on an all-women's Baseball team, in an all-women's Baseball league.

As a former Little League player, 6 years after starting out as a Rookie in Fall Ball, as the only girl on her team, she is back as an umpire, at the Rookie level.

During the Spring season, getting her feet wet, she was only officiating over Girls Softball, at the Majors level (age 9-10). I can only imagine what it was like for the girls to have such a vital inspiration behind the plate. Also, she has proven to be a fair and accurate umpire!

But, together, as I watch on, she has had the fortune officiating over Rookie Baseball this Fall...

In the course of her activity, I know of 6 girls, on three teams, who have been representing quite well.

I know that 4 of the girls are die-hard Baseball players; 2 are actively Softball players, one by self-determination; the other by default as her activity schedule is so booked in the Spring, the Recreational nature of Girl's Softball, by contrast to the Competitive nature of Baseball, is sufficient for her: no pressure. Considering her brother is an Elite Baseball player, both in Little League, and USSA and Nations Baseball, their family is quite clear about the dimensions of the game, not to forget mentioning that the dad was the head coach for one of the Rookie teams this Fall: drafting 3 girls alone on his own team, one a lights-out pitcher; the other had quite a solid disposition of a BASEBALL player (in her case, her two older brothers didn't take to Baseball, so the dad is clearly loving the opportunity to engage with his daughter in Baseball.)

As the result of engaging one of the girls, as a student, this girl, who is all-sport and loves Baseball not Softball: having my daughter as her trainer, teaching her how to pitch, hit, etc:

she asked my daughter for a signature on a fresh Little League baseball. My daughter showed her the finer points of signing a ball:

if you are signing a single-signed ball: write on the sweet spot; if you are writing on a team ball: DO NOT write on the sweet spot: unless you want to drive everyone else crazy, which is exactly what my daughter did when she had the opportunity to sign a team ball that was submitted into the Youth Baseball Hall of Fame: the first team ball of the first all-girl team to defeat an all-boy team at Cooperstown Dreams Park, immortalized in the firlm Girls of Summer, by Max Tash:

http://www.girlsofsummermovie.com/

A final anecdote:

A second, all-girl Baseball team participated in the Cooperstown Dreams Park summer season, playing well, representing girls from the USA read the following story for more from the team founder and organizer, Mary Jo Stegeman:

http://girlsplaybaseball.wordpress.com/2009/11/03/the-best-baseball-story-of-the-year-by-mary-jo-stegeman-chicago-pioneers/