Baseball matters to girls and women. Women have struggled to find acceptance in baseball, especially on the field. Both institutional and personal discrimination against girls and women in baseball make it difficult to find settings that treat females fairly. Ask any female baseball player; it's not always easy being the girl.

 

The Minnesota Girls Baseball Association was founded to help challenge these barriers in the simplest way possible: by getting more girls to play baseball. We firmly believe that girls should have the option to play baseball if they want to instead of being channeled away from the game. 

 

For girls, playing baseball is simply about participating in the sport they love. Every female baseball player has been asked when she plans on switching to softball. Thousands are pressured or forced to play softball after Little League based on assumptions that they will not be able to keep up with their male peers. Parents are often not given correct information about their daughter's right and full ability to continue playing baseball if she wishes.

 

If gender-based constraints dictate what we allow children to dream of, we contribute to gender inequality in society. Justine Siegal, MLB's first female coach, said, "If you tell a girl she can't play baseball, what else will she think she can't do?" Equally as important, when boys think girls can't play baseball, what else will they think girls can't do? If girls are afforded the opportunity to play baseball with other girls and receive encouragement and support, they are much more likely to feel empowered to perservere in baseball and beyond.