First woman to coach men’s professional baseball: Stop switching girls to softball!
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posted by Fair Game News Seeking equality on -- and off -- the field. The strong connection between organized athletics and power (political, economic, social) means sports have consequences far beyond the game. FairGameNews.com aims to challenge sex-stereotyped assumptions and practices that dominate sports -- and recognize that sports can be a tool for seeking equal treatment and fair play. |
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By Laura Pappano
Justine Siegal coaches men
Justine Siegal is billed by her team, The Brockton Rox, as the first woman to coach men’s professional baseball (they play in the Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball or Can-Am League). She is also founder of BaseBall for All, which supports female players and provides baseball instruction around the world (Siegal coached last year in India and Hong Kong). Siegal coaches for the Springfield College Baseball team – and is a Ph.D. candidate in sports psychology. She spoke during her daily commute from Campanelli Stadium in Brockton, MA.
FGN: How long have you been playing baseball?
JS: I started playing when I was five. I played men’s professional baseball until I was 22.
FGN: You coach for a men’s professional team, the Brockton Rox. What do you do?
JS: I’m a rookie coach. I just started. I’ve been throwing a lot of batting practice.
FGN: How have the players reacted?
JS: So far, everyone who has spoken to me has been very supportive. I tell them I am there to help them become better baseball players and help the team win a championship – just like every coach there.
FGN: What are your career ambitions?
JS: One of my goals is to be a college baseball coach. No woman has ever been a head college baseball coach.
FGN: Why do so few girls try baseball?
JS: There is a lot of pressure on girls to play softball. I played baseball a long time – I played through high school – and I felt like every day someone was asking me to play softball instead. And I was on the baseball team! In my mind, it’s because those in power don’t want girls to play baseball. It’s considered a boy’s game.
FGN: Why do many girls switch from baseball to softball when they reach middle school?
JS: The girls who play baseball are great athletes so a college scholarship in softball is a real possibility; a scholarship in baseball is a possibility, but the [chances] are lower. It’s sad to me when girls switch when they don’t want to. One of my goals is to help them over the hump. I tell the girls, “Why can’t it be you? Why can’t you make it?” We keep taking ourselves out of the game.
FGN: What is the role of the coach in all this?
JS: The coach is key. The girls who have a really good time on their [baseball] teams, it is coach-directed. If coaches from junior high would say, “I’d like you to try out,” that would be huge. The problem is that everyone says to girls, “Oh baseball is fun when you’re just a kid, now it’s time to move over.” That is a lesson we are teaching girls. And we are teaching boys the same lesson: Gender rules.
FGN: What about females as umpires?
JS: There are a few female umpires in the minor leagues. There is no reason women can’t be umpires and Major League Baseball knows that. There are just so many men who want to be umpires it is a matter of numbers. You need to get more girls umpiring.
FGN: Why does matter to have women in baseball?
JS: It’s important for two reasons. Without pioneers we don’t see any progress. Second, it’s important for each of us to find out what we’re made of. If we just give up playing for a reason that doesn’t make sense, it’s wrong. Some people are told they are to short or their skin’s the wrong color. We are told that just because of our gender we shouldn’t play – I don’t think that’s a good enough reason.
View Original Post at fairgamenews.com
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