A team of their own All-girls club turning heads during debut season in Winnipeg youth baseball league By: Ken Wiebe Posted: 6:14 PM CDT Thursday, May. 23, 2024

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This article was published 23/05/2024 (810 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s not quite a league of their own, but for the time being it’s the next best thing.

There’s an all-girls team competing in Winnipeg’s 15U AA baseball league for the first time in Baseball Manitoba’s history, and the enthusiasm within that group was palpable during a visit to Optimist Park earlier this week.

“I just wanted to play with other girls just like me. It’s really great that I get to be able to play with people that have the same goals as me and who feel the same things and everything else the way that I do,” says Dayle Bettens, an infielder for the St. James A’s (Yellow).

“Some of us played softball together or with the provincial team. A couple of us have played. Most of us know each other from other things. We all connected pretty well, pretty quick.”

That connection is evident as you listen to the teammates encourage one another during a series of fundamental drills taking place on one of the seven diamonds in use.

The trailblazing element is not lost on this group, either.

“It’s a really great experience and I feel like (we) are a great inspiration to younger girls, who are just like me,” says Bettens.

“(Before), I didn’t have anywhere like this where I could play. I was like, ‘I guess I have to play softball or play (baseball) with boys.’ This is a great thing for younger girls to look at and see there is somewhere for me to go, too.

“For a lot of people, that will be appealing (because) you have a better environment and you will get along with everyone.”

Previously, the girls who chose to play baseball on boys teams weren’t necessarily finding a ton of opportunities to play the prime positions on the diamond.

That’s not the case with this team.

For the record, the response from the boys squads in the 10-team league has been positive.

“So far, it’s actually been pretty good. They’ve been treating us like we’re good, like we’re players,” Bettens says. “They’re playing us hard and there have been some pretty tight games. We’ve been competing with them well. I’m not sure they like that too much. But it’s going well for us.

“I don’t think they were expecting it from a big group of girls. We’re holding our own out here.”

Things are going even better for this group after recording its first victory of the season Wednesday night, a 6-2 triumph over St. James (Green) that included a seven-inning complete game for pitcher Josie Miller and a home run for Mya Richard.

The squad is now 1-4 and meets the league-leading Charleswood Dodgers on Tuesday.

“(The win) was much needed, actually,” says Baseball Manitoba executive director Jason Miller, who is also on the coaching staff.

“We all knew we were competitive based on the scores, but actually winning a game, you could tell during the game and after the game, with the excitement and the confidence. Everyone just needed that, for sure.”

Miller has two daughters on the team and was the driving force behind bringing this group together.

The St. James Minor Baseball Association was supportive when Miller pitched the idea to them back in November.

Players were recruited from inside the region and throughout the province, and after a tryout that included 23 players, the roster was formed with 16 players — a byproduct of having several multi-sport athletes on it, including competitive dancers, softball players and volleyball players.

That means three or four players are not available for most games, but that hasn’t prevented them from turning some heads and creating a buzz around their friends and classmates.

“I have some older friends who are saying they wish they would have had this and there are a couple of people who are really wishing they would have played (this year),” says Bettens. “They see we have a great dynamic and are having lots of fun.”

Two former Manitoba provincial team members, Katie Heppner and Jamie Johnson, were quick to get involved with the coaching staff and share their expertise.

“It’s super cool to have female coaches around because when we played for Team Manitoba growing up when we played boys (baseball), we never had any female coaches,” says Heppener.

“We didn’t have any girls who stuck around the game long enough to transition into that role. Being able to do that and being around these girls keeps us young and reminds us how much fun the game is.

“We both played on Team Manitoba for 10 years and now we’re able to coach these girls and hopefully get them on provincial teams in the future, get them growing and get female baseball growing.”

Adds Johnson: “It’s important to give back to the game because the game has given a lot to us. It’s really fun to be here and help build the foundation for these girls to have a good baseball experience and to build their future in baseball as well.”

Seeing the success of the Professional Women’s Hockey League this past season is something that provides hope that baseball might one day follow suit.

“You know what, that’s the dream. I hope that Baseball Canada picks this up and sees that this is a great thing,” says Bettens. “There should be these opportunities in more leagues and way more girls teams to play on.”

The short-term goal for this group is to finish in the top five of the league so that they can qualify for the provincial championship in Brandon.

The longer-term vision is to see more girls’ teams like this one competing across the province for years to come.

“My goal is to have girls’ teams at every age group. The grand goal, outside of Winnipeg, too, but let’s start with Winnipeg. We can certainly get 13U AA, 15U AA, 18U AA girls teams competing every year and somewhere for those young girls to aspire to and to move up to,” says Miller.

“It’s a huge accomplishment and I am super proud of what these girls have done.

“But in the back of my mind, I’m (wondering) what more can we do? The PWHL is a great example and I’ve said the number 30 years before. Is baseball 30 years behind hockey? Are we 20 years behind hockey? Women’s baseball at the collegiate level and heck, at the pro level, is that (coming) down the road? Will I see that in my lifetime?

“I think it’s possible — and why not?”

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

X: @WiebesWorld

Ken Wiebe
Reporter

Ken Wiebe is a sports reporter for the Free Press, with an emphasis on the Winnipeg Jets. He has covered hockey and provided analysis in this market since 2000 for the Winnipeg Sun, The Athletic, Sportsnet.ca and TSN. Ken was a summer intern at the Free Press in 1999 and returned to the Free Press in a full-time capacity in September of 2023. Read more about Ken.

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