A photo of what a Little League champion softball team can be!
This is for the girls: The Mason District Little League is forming two softball teams just for you.
(Note: this article was originally published on the Annandale Blog it is being cross posted on Talk Nats. The Nationals are an MDLL sponsor, having donated funds to overhaul “Pudge” Field and providing uniforms for the league.)
There will be two mixed-age teams with girls age 9-12, but younger kids who want to join won’t be turned away, says coach Tom Dickson of the MDLL. The first season will be mostly instructional, with a couple of games possibly set up late in the season against other leagues.
So far, 14 girls are signed up and another 10 have expressed interest, Dickson says. Registration will be cut off at the end of March or when there are 24 players.
Most of the girls have never played softball but have some experience with baseball or interest based on watching the Nationals. It’s been tough recruiting players, Dickson says, because most girls interested in sports have already gotten involved with soccer, lacrosse, or another sport by age 9.
The new teams will probably use the Annandale High School field but that hasn’t been finalized yet.
Annandale and Jeb Stuart high schools are both getting new softball fields in the near future based on Title IX compliance. They currently have no direct feeder league, so the hope is that the kids signing up now will form the high school teams in the next few years.
One parent who signed up told Dickson: “Our daughter has no softball team experience. She loves playing catch and watching the Nats, so she’d like to try a team.”
Another parent, whose daughter dropped out of Little League and wants to play softball, said, “I think being the only girl on the team made it not as fun at the time.”
And a girl, who had never played softball before and doesn’t know anything about it, said, “I wish to learn about softball and hopefully play it in high school.”
If you’re interested, sign up online. For more information or if you would consider sponsoring a team, contact [email protected].
