PURCELLVILLE, Va. 鈥� Did you know that the Women鈥檚 Baseball World Cup starts this week? Did you know that the Women鈥檚 Baseball World Cup existed before reading that last sentence?
Baseball will return to the Olympics in Tokyo in 2020, but only for men. There will be softball for women. But all across the country, including here in D.C., the next generation is looking to change that, to get more girls and women involved in not just appreciating, but playing our national pastime.
That鈥檚 why the DC Force, along with six other teams from the United States and Canada, assembled out in Purcellville, Virginia this May for the Diamond Classic. When it comes to women鈥檚 baseball, though, this is the biggest stage there is, for now.
The yearly tournament offers the chance for girls and women from all over North America to play a competitive tournament against one another, something they aren鈥檛 able to do too often throughout the year.
鈥淔or us, the weekend鈥檚 about bringing our girls out here to play with the women and see that there鈥檚 a future for women in the sport, so that they can learn that they can keep playing baseball, and there鈥檚 a future for them regardless of the absence of women in professional baseball,鈥� DC Force Head Coach Ava Benach told 91欧美激情.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e all playing baseball all the time, but I think this is their favorite venue, because they鈥檙e not alone. And there鈥檚 a certain level of camaraderie and support they get, where they don鈥檛 have to be the only girl on the team and facing whatever judgment comes from being in that situation.鈥�
Usually when you hear about a girl or a woman playing baseball, the story is the anomaly. We all remember Mo鈥橬e Davis from the Little League World Series a few years back. And baseball fans may well know the stories of Stacy Piagno and Kelsie Whitmore, who broke in for the independent league Sonoma Stompers in 2016. But the Force practice every Sunday in McLean, Virginia, with members of the adult Eastern Women鈥檚 Baseball Conference, drawing players from as far north as the Baltimore suburbs and as far south as Charlottesville.
鈥淚 think we鈥檙e attracting a whole group of girls that traditionally was only funneled into softball, and now they鈥檙e seeing the opportunity,鈥� said Codi Dudley, a longtime EWBC player and now a coach with the Force.
Major League Baseball and USA Baseball have been part of the push, putting on events like the and the last couple years, bringing teenage players from around the country together to compete.
Elizabeth Benn is the coordinator of labor, diversity and youth programs at MLB. But before that, she was a pitcher for the Toronto Fusion and later the D.C. Thunder of the EWBC. She moved to New York in 2015, started working with MLB, and was hired into her current role earlier this year.
鈥淲e know that there are a ton of girls out there playing at the youth level, but now also having the opportunity to play past Little League and into high school,鈥� said Benn.
But the biggest challenge right now is simply awareness 鈥� letting people know that teams like the DC Force are out there. To that end, the Women鈥檚 Baseball World Cup won鈥檛 even be broadcast on a major sports network, just on YouTube.
鈥淥ften when you鈥檙e talking to people about girls baseball, people don鈥檛 know that it exists,鈥� said Benn. 鈥淧eople don鈥檛 know that girls play baseball and women play baseball. And I think just raising that awareness is the main step right now.鈥�
Picture this: having so many girls in baseball that they hardly fit into one frame鈥攁nd trust us, these 280 girls? They're just the beginning.
— Baseball For All (@baseballfor_all)
Girls were not even allowed to play Little League Baseball until 1974. And while breakthroughs like Mo鈥橬e Davis鈥檚 help shine a spotlight on what鈥檚 possible at that level, there鈥檚 a steep drop-off after Little League. From , played high school baseball in 2016-17. That鈥檚 a higher number than some might expect, but a drop in the bucket compared to the more than 300,000 softball players.
In addition to often finding themselves as the only girl on their team by the end of Little League, girls face increased ostracism from their peers and are offered plenty of other paths of less resistance.
鈥淲hen we were younger, it wasn鈥檛 that big of a deal, but as we got older, it became more discriminating,鈥� said Joanie O鈥機onnell, who plays for the DC Force and her school team at St. Stephen鈥檚 & St. Agnes School. 鈥淚 had an injury and I couldn鈥檛 play for [the school team for] a while, and once I recovered, I wasn鈥檛 really welcomed back all that much.鈥�
O鈥機onnell has aspirations to play varsity ball, something the DC Force is hoping to see more and more as its players move on to high school. The Under 13 team won the national championship last summer, and the Under 14聽 as members of its title-winning Under 14 team was a perfect 5-0 at Baseball for All Nationals this month, winning the title game 10-6 over the San Francisco BaySox.
鈥淭hey all plan on playing as long as they can, which is what you want for anybody, whether they鈥檙e Derek Jeter or just a 10-year-old,鈥� said Benach.
Bridging that gap may be the hardest part in keeping girls in the sport and building a more sustainable pipeline.
鈥淲hen you start finding girls at the 14-15 year-old level, they鈥檙e pretty solid ballplayers,鈥� said Benach. 鈥淏ecause there鈥檚 a lot of offramps for them to not play baseball anymore.鈥�
While O鈥機onnell has had good support from her family as she has continued to play baseball, she recognizes that鈥檚 not how it is everywhere.
鈥淚 think it really depends on where you are, because there are a lot of men and boys who are very supportive,” she said. “But a lot of the teams we play in my school league, since they play in an all-boys league, they鈥檙e just not really into it.鈥�
That鈥檚 why Benach sees the entire enterprise as something much more than just a baseball team.
鈥淚 always say we鈥檙e a leadership program that plays baseball, and that鈥檚 really true,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hen they work with us and they play with us, they become leaders. They become stronger. They鈥檙e more articulate. They鈥檙e advocates for themselves. Because they鈥檝e had to put up with a lot of baloney to play baseball.鈥�
To learn more about getting involved with DC Force, go to .
