My girls play Baseball. Not Softball. Hardball-smallball-underhand
pitching-baseball. They didn't much have a choice about it since they
were born to a Papa who is a player, coach and super-fan of the game.
The first articles of clothing they all had placed on their bodies were
emblazoned with the SF Giants logos and they all spent their first years
falling asleep to the tune of "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" coming
from their Giant's baby-mobile. There were always baseballs of all
different sizes and materials in our house for them to throw and what
kid doesn't love whacking things with a bat? So yes, maybe they weren't
given much of choice about what sport they would play, but they
definitely haven't gone into it kicking and screaming.
The immense amount of games the girls have been dragged to or forced to
watch (which all have included in-depth running commentary from their
Papa about what the players were doing right or wrong) along with Papa's
willingness to drop anything and everything to play ball with his
girls, have left them with some pretty impressive baseball skills.
Chuli's got a throw that will leave your hand stinging and is not afraid
to get as down and dirty as her fav player Buster Posey, and Justice
can field like a champ and make some serious contact with the ball.
As they have gotten older and have been able to take their game outside
our backyard and beyond their Papa's lessons, we have asked ourselves
more than a few times if they should switch over to play softball. **Let
me stop here to make something clear: in no way do I feel like softball
is any less of a sport than baseball. Softball players are dope,
amazing and just as athletic, if not more, as any baseball player** We
are aware that for a girl, the opportunities to play baseball on a pro,
college or even a high school level are minimal at best and that if our
girls do indeed have some talent with the bat and ball then putting it
to use on a softball field would present an easier and more abundant
road for them.
As softball players they would have access to more teams, possible
scholarships and even a potential career. Women's Softball is a Olympic
sport while Women's Pro-Baseball is limited to a few years of playing
in skirts and one famous Hollywood movie that taught us all that
"there's no crying in baseball!" As female baseball players their paths
would be filled with dead ends, closed doors and a whole lot of
ignorance. At only 10 years old Justice came face-to-face with the
misogyny of the sports world when she was introduced to the middle
school baseball coach of her future school who when told that she was a
ball player offered her the position of "scorekeeper" on his team. If
this type of narrow-mindedness exists in elementary aged sports when
there is little-to-no physical differences between the boys & girls,
I shudder to think about what type of discrimination my girls would
face if they got into to playing more serious ball.
I can get myself worked up into a nice sized furry when I reflect on the
fact that as parents of girls we have to spend so much time considering
re-directing our daughters away from something that brings them so much
joy because of our desire to keep our babies protected from hardships
and hurt that may lie ahead of them. It is utterly ridiculous to think
that anyone would place restrictions or limitations on the potential of
my 6 year old child based solely on her lack of a Y chromosome.
Although it comes from a place of wanting to protect my girls from
discrimination, ignorance and negativity, each time I consider making
the switch over to softball simply because somehow society decided that
girls can't play professional baseball, I feel horrible. I want to
instill the belief in my girls that they can do or be anything they can
possibly imagine.
It was not so long ago that the thought that a girl could grow up to go
to college, have a job, or even vote was considered crazy. There were
families and communities of some little girls in that time that told
them yes when everyone else around them was saying no and helped clear
the way for all future generations of little girls. Someone always has
to be the first.
After all, if we all pull our little girls out of baseball, how can we
ever expect them to grow up with the skills to strike out all these
boys and knock their balls out of the park?
