Baseball For All Boosts Women’s College Club Baseball
Image credit: Justine Siegal (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)
The idea is a simple one: get more women involved with baseball.
But this task is easier said than done.
You have to grow the game at every level and provide opportunities for women as they get older to continue playing the sport that they love. Enter Justine Siegal, founder of Baseball For All.
Siegal earned her doctorate in sports psychology and went on to have a highly successful career coaching baseball. She even broke the barrier as the first woman to serve as a coach for an MLB organization back in 2014 for the Athletics.
However, her mission wasn’t over. After growing up playing baseball, she wanted to give other women the same opportunity. She founded Baseball For All in 2010 as a nonprofit whose mission was to provide opportunities for girls to play, coach and lead in baseball.
Now, the organization has players in more than 40 states and five countries competing in tournaments all across the nation. Baseball For All also advocates for women’s college club baseball programs.
This year, Baseball For All is teaming up with the Reds Youth Academy to put on a Women’s College Club Baseball Invitational. This is not the first event of its kind, but it is the first one affiliated with a major league team.
Kevin Coe, the assistant director of the Reds Youth Academy, was eager to help put on this event.
“It was easy for me to say yes to it,” said Coe, who worked with Siegal when their paths crossed with the White Sox. “I sit in a unique seat and I have the opportunity to provide unique opportunities.”
The invitational will feature players from colleges and universities around the country and will welcome women of all skill levels. The women attending will split into teams and play in a round robin–style tournament.
This event is a lead-up to the third annual BFA Women’s College Club Baseball Championships, which will be held in early April.
“It’s great to be a part of something that’s just getting started,” Coe said.
“I’ve watched (Siegal) grow Baseball For All and amateur and youth girls’ baseball from coast to coast. Now she’s going to do it at the college level. I have no doubt.”
