If it’s late August, it must be Little League World Series time – and our annual reminder of why Title IX is needed, but not enough.

The disparities in treatment, support, and attention for male and female athletes begins early, and nowhere is it more obvious than in Little League.

Just consider the annual baseball and softball World Series playoff events. The Little League Softball World Series, which just wrapped up, featured 27 games, with semi-finals and the championship aired on ESPN2. That’s THREE games.

Now multiply that by 11 and you’ll have the number of Little League Baseball World Series games broadcast – and many on ESPN HD (for those keeping track, that’s every single game played in the series).

Oh, and the August 27 finals are on CBS in –– HD.

Nearly every element of these two marquis events reveals institutional and cultural sexism (yes, girls are allowed to play Little League Baseball but it is rare and in many places are discouraged from doing so). One has only to glance at the websites (here and here)  for the two World Series events to spot vastly different levels of support.

Curious about the players? The Little League Softball World Series site features team photos. The Little League Baseball World Series site lets you click down to individual players – and watch video of them in action. The level of information (want souvenir tickets?) and polish between the two sites is absurdly disparate.

This is not meant as a criticism of the softball effort (May we remember that these are 12-year-olds?), but of the blatant institutional gap. The matter is, frankly, puzzling. Why doesn’t Little League at least try – a little?

Granted, right there in the media guide, the organizational timeline points out that in 1972 after the passage of Title IX that, “Little League resists the entry of girls into the program.” In 1974, the organization decides “to allow participation by girls” (after a New Jersey Court ordered them to), but immediately creates Little League Softball – which helps to keep girls from joining baseball.

Many years have passed, but not enough has changed.

As the girls and boys of summer play out their Little League World Series dreams — dreams structured by an organization that portrays itself as a gift to youth development – isn’t it time to make gender fairness a goal?

It would be as important for the boys as it would be for the girls.

http://www.softballworldseries.com/schedule.htm

By Megan Wood and Laura Pappano

Justine Siegal, founder of BaseBall for All, made news this week when she became the first woman to throw batting practice to a major league baseball team at spring training. She threw for the Cleveland Indians on Monday and the Oakland A’s on Wednesday. Siegal, who became the first woman to coach a men’s professional baseball team, the Brockton Rox, in 2009 (see FGN Q&A with Siegal here), wanted to throw at spring training to increase acceptance for girls playing baseball. FGN spoke with Siegal from spring training in Arizona as she headed to watch a Giants vs. Diamonbacks game at Scottsdale Stadium.

FGN: Was it suprising to people that you could throw batting practice for major league teams?

JS: I think it was, based on their reactions. And yet, I wondered, ‘How can you feel like it should be so difficult?’ I mean it is 45 feet [from the mound to the plate]. To some degree, it is not such a big deal. You are just supposed to throw firm strikes. This is not a power issue or a situation where you need to be 6’2. But female athletes have always had to deal with that stigma — that they are weaker [and therefore not able to do 'male' sport activities]. That said, I was treated with much respect and treated as a professional.

FGN: You are a 36-year-old woman who has played baseball. Who usually throws batting practice?

JS: Batting practice is thrown by coaches who are often and usually between the ages of 35 and 60 — the age is not a factor. And it is not a power issue. When you throw batting practice you can’t flinch when they hit back. There is a lot of bravado when you throw. You don’t look to see how far they hit. And remember, it is about throwing strikes — it is not about the pitcher; it is about the hitter.

FGN: One of your goals was to increase the awareness of and acceptance for girls playing baseball. What reaction have you received?

JS: Actually, I’ve been getting a lot of e-mails. I’ve gotten a lot of fan mail and words of encouragement — from men! Some of them have said, ‘You are living my dream. My daughter plays…’ This is not just a story for girls and women. We underestimate men and how they understand what’s going on and the power of the dream [of playing baseball], of going for something.

FGN: You have done a lot to raise the profile of baseball as a sport for girls. Are girls who play still pressured to switch to softball?

JS: There is definitely the pressure to switch. That is without a doubt. I am sure there will always be tension between softball and baseball, but I don’t care. This is about creating equal opportunities [to play either sport].

FGN: You grew up as a Cleveland Indians fan. What was it like walking into the clubhouse and putting on that uniform?

JS: When I walked in and I saw my Indians jersey hanging for me and it was number 15 — the number I asked for  (her daughter’s birthday is Feb.15) — it was so magical. You get tinglies all over your body!

FGN: Would you like to throw batting practice again?

JS: I would love to keep throwing this!

By Megan Wood

Last night I caught the Little League Softball World Series semi-finals on ESPN2 — two exciting games that will have Warner Robins, Georgia squaring off against Burbank, California in the finals tonight. Never mind that one of the games was a 1-0 win in which Warner Robins pitcher, Avery Lamb struck out 12 and a smart first base play held what could have been the tying run at third. Unfortunately, this heads-up ball, in the scheme of things, doesn’t count. Or count as much as if these Little League Softball players were playing Little League Baseball.

You see, while Little League this year expanded the number of televised baseball games – some 62 Little League World Series baseball games are aired on television (ESPN, ESPN2, NESN) with the championship game earning a pre-game special in HD on ESPN and a time slot on ABC on August 2 — Little League Softball had the same schedule as last year. That is, three televised games on ESPN2.(There are 27 scheduled games in the tournament).

Yet, as I watched last night, I was impressed with what I saw. These twelve-year-old girls were no joke: I had flashbacks of the NCAA Women’s College World Series as I was watching these young pitchers throw rise balls, screw balls and change-ups, and seeing hitters pounding home runs out of the park (in the first game). These young girls are focused, driven competitors. Who says their talent is less worth watching than boys their age?

One had only to listen to the video bio clips of the softball players telling the camera who their favorite players were — several University of Georgia players including Megan Wiggins and Taylor Schlopy were popular — to see the value of role models and inspiration. It matters to see athletes who look like you, playing your sport. And yet, the lesson our children (boys and girls) get from such skewed attention is that men’s sports are more important than women’s sports.

Strikingly, media coverage of women’s college softball has generally improved in recent years and the 2010 NCAA College Softball World Series was well covered when it unfolded in May. What is happening with the Little League Softball World Series?

As they watch the Little League Baseball World Series — plus numerous teasers and ads for the games — young girls playing softball can only notice that their games didn’t quite make it onto television. What is the logic in that? How does this shape the empowered girl who thinks she can conquer any challenge sport has to offer if she is constantly shown that her pursuits are less valued? While boys have the opportunity to be inspired nearly every day and night from August 10-29 by their peers, girls get two brief windows to catch their Little League Softball counterparts: last night and tonight.

If you missed last night, better tune in. Quick.

By Megan Wood

When umpire Perry Barber steps behind the catcher, fans often do a double-take when they glimpse the ponytail resting on the back of her uniform. Female umpires are not only rare, but practically unheard of.  Barber is one of only eight women to umpire professional baseball, officiating around 200 games a year for local, regional, state and professional leagues including spring training for Major League Baseball. After umpiring for over 25 years, Barber tells why there so few female umpires — and why calling balls and strikes is often viewed as something only a man can do.

FGN: When did you discover you wanted to be a professional baseball umpire?

PB: My early fascination with baseball had nothing to do with athletic competition and everything to do with being a trivia nut and former Jeopardy! champion who wanted to educate herself about baseball as a subject, not a game or sport. I needed to hold my own in trivia contests a friend constantly challenged me to.

I started going to as many Mets games as I could. At Veteran’s Stadium in Philadelphia this older couple sort of adopted me. They would let me sit with them right behind the Phillies’ dugout and take me back to the first aid room after games to meet their friends who worked there. The first aid room was adjacent to the umpires’ dressing room.

One time National League umpire #11 Ed Montague stopped in to say hello. The moment I shook his hand, it was like being struck by lightning, and I don’t mean in a romantic way, but something about him affected me so profoundly I couldn’t stop thinking about him. Until I met him, I was like everybody else and didn’t give much thought to the umpires as anything other than peripheral characters on the field, but that changed in an instant.

One night, I found a newspaper ad on my pillow that my mom had left for me. “Indio needs umpires,” it read. My first reaction was definitely not “Wow, I’m signing up tomorrow,” but confusion. When I asked why she had left it, she said, “Well, I thought it was something you’d like to do.”

So began my umpiring “career.” People were often hostile to me, but I attributed their vitriol more to the fact that I was untrained, meaning incompetent, than that I was female.

I never thought about the fact that I was a woman and women didn’t do that, or about the political implications inherent in my becoming an umpire, or anything except this is how I can stay connected to baseball and my mom… I loved baseball, and umpiring was my way of expressing that love and turning what had been a mostly cerebral attachment to the game into something tangible. If it hadn’t been for my mother, who knows if I ever would have found my way into a chest protector and shin guards. She made the connection I hadn’t; she connected the dots and saw something in me I didn’t see in myself.

FGN: Why did you decide to officiate baseball instead of softball?

PB: I didn’t “decide”; once my mom suggested that I umpire Little League baseball and I started doing it, softball just wasn’t an option. I’m glad softball exists as an alternative to baseball — even though from my perspective it also siphons off a lot of young girls who might otherwise be integrating baseball more fully — but I have no quarrel with any athletic endeavor that brings girls and women together to compete and play. I just don’t get the same charge from umpiring softball as I do from baseball. I’m baseball trained, and it’s my passion, so that’s what I stick to most of the time.

FGN: What is it like to step on a baseball field and umpire a men’s game?

PB: It’s a rush, an adrenaline charge, an affirmation of life and living and all things positive and hopeful. Just being out there on a ball field with other people running around sweating and frolicking about, it’s all so wonderful to me, even thirty years into my career. I think when I was a neophyte and unknown to many of the league and teams for which I umpired, the expectations others may have had of me might have been just a bit unrealistic (as in, they probably all thought I would stink!). But I never let anyone’s expectations deter me from pursuing my passion no matter what anyone said about how bad I was, or why was I doing this, or why didn’t I just get married and have children like a normal person and give up this umpiring thing. In other words, all the nay saying I heard (and still hear sometimes) about why I (or women in general) shouldn’t be out there with the guys. My interactions with coaches are always respectful on my part, although I can’t speak for them; I’m sure there are a few who have regarded my presence as in intrusion rather than as an asset, but that’s their problem, not mine.

FGN: How do fellow umpires and players treat you during the game? Do you feel more pressure because you are a woman umpiring men?

PB: I like to think I’m treated as an equal by my partners and fellow umpires, and for the most part, at this stage of my career, I honestly believe I am. There are probably some umpires (and players too) still opposed to sharing the field or the dressing room with a woman, but my attitude is always that I’ll be able to change their minds once they work with me and see I’m as capable as any other umpire. I don’t feel much pressure about being a woman or “representing” other women, although I may have when I first started.

FGN: Why are there so few women in umpiring? How can we encourage more?

PB: Women are not initiated into the baseball culture when they’re in utero the way boys are in this country. That’s one reason. Plus the few girls who do play baseball are often steered towards softball as an alternative. The same problem applies to umpiring baseball; there is no organized, sustained effort to recruit, train, and retain the services of women umpires.

Change will come as the result of a multi-pronged approach, including presenting umpiring as a career or a vocational option to girls and women.

For instance, we should be making a real, concerted, committed, and sustained effort to recruit, train and assign young girls to little leagues, youth leagues, high school and college games so they become a part of the culture when they’re young, the same way the boys do; and getting a lot of women to attend umpire school en masse so at least two or three get jobs in pro ball at the same time instead of just one at a time (the way it’s always happened up until now). That way there will be a support system for them, an infrastructure of sorority and women encouraging women, providing counsel and mentoring to each other.

News of Judge Sylvia Pressler’s death last week – at 75 at a family home in Sparta, NJ – drew a few paragraphs in the newspaper, but hardly attracted huge attention.

And yet, as spring training gets underway and kids prepare for Little League tryouts (now a winter affair), we should remember Pressler’s contribution — and not just her 1973 finding allowing Maria Pepe of the Hoboken Democrats to play Little League — but the way she framed the issue.

Pressler made clear the connection between sports – in this case, Little League Baseball – and political equality. “The institution of Little League is as American as the hot dog and apple pie,” she wrote in her findings. “There’s no reason that part of Americana should be withheld from girls.”

When the National Organization for Women filed a grievance on behalf of Pepe with the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, the debate focused chiefly on concerns that girls would get hurt if they played baseball with boys – a notion that if you look at the size of many 9 and 10-year-old girls compared with boys, appears downright silly (note the size of the girl vs. the boys in the Times story photo below, published after Pressler’s findings and amid widespread debate).

In researching Playing with the Boys, N.O.W granted me access to their papers, including details of the 1973 proceedings and Pressler’s findings. During six days of testimony in the case, Little League officials tried every argument they could muster to bar girls from the game. One of the most amusing points came from Dr. Creighton J. Hale, physiologist and Little League VP, who argued that “the possibility of cosmetic injury is more ‘socially damaging’ for a girl than it is for a boy.” Another LL representative, Dr. Thomas Johnson, a San Diego psychiatrist, argued that forced integration of the sexes was bad for children’s mental development. “Boys like to be with boys and girls like to be with girls,” he said.

Give Pressler credit at a time when it was not easy to stand up to male tradition for insisting that integration of the sexes (and, yes, even in the male sport of baseball) mattered. “I have no doubt that there are many reputable psychologists who would agree with the ‘birds of a feather’ theory,” Pressler wrote. “But the extension of that is that whites like to be with whites, blacks like to be with blacks and Jews likes to be with Jews; and that whole theory is a contradiction to the laws of this state and this country.”

Further, she said, “the sooner little boys begin to realize that little girls are equal and that there will be many opportunities for a boy to be bested by a girl, the closer they will be to better mental health.”

Her ruling created an uproar. But it stood.

Imagine if someone who lacked her clarity of vision had decided the case? When I learned of her passing, I had one thought: Thank you, Sylvia Pressler.

The New York Times, April 2, 1974

By Laura Pappano

The visual is stunning.

Click here to see the Little League Softball World Series championship TV schedule.  You’ll find ESPN2 (the channel broadcasting women’s college hoops unless there is a men’s game that can’t fit the ESPN or network schedule) is showing two semi-final games on Tues., Aug. 18 and the championship on Wed., Aug. 19 (7 p.m. EST)

Reasonable airtime given that this is Little League. Kids. Right?

Mistake. That is the Little League Softball World Series. Click here for Little League Baseball’s World Series broadcast schedule.

Softball games may be limited to three on TV, but from Fri., Aug. 21 to Sun. Aug. 30, you can basically watch 12-year-olds play baseball all day long (and into the night).

Between the three channels — ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC – broadcasters will bring you 36 – yep, THIRTY-SIX!! – Little League games (including consolation play).

The disparity in prestige and attention might be chalked up to the American passion for baseball over softball, if Little League didn’t have such a troublesome record on gender issues. Sure, it now “celebrates” the move to allow girls (following a successful civil complaint by N.O.W. on behalf of Maria Pepe of New Jersey in 1973).

But the move in early 1974 to start a Little League softball program has been seen by some, including Jennifer Ring author of Stolen Bases: Why American Girls Don’t Play Baseball (Illinois, 2009) as a strategy to steer girls into softball and keep baseball for boys. Today, there are few girls on Little League teams. (see post)

It may be unfair to blame Little League for what is a larger cultural truth: baseball is not merely a terrific game, but an institution that celebrates male power. But it surely is not an accident that Little League dugouts are loaded with Dads re-living their youth and it’s a rarity to see a ponytail on the field.

I am the mother of a boy smitten with baseball and Little League. I love the game and played as a kid. But as an organization (and an effective one  – is there a better brand in youth sports?) Little League is missing an important opportunity. This is not just about allowing girls to play, but encouraging them.

And if there is a Little League Softball World Series, make it as big a deal as Little League Baseball. Otherwise the message is that 12-year-old boys are just more worth watching than 12-year-old girls. And, as one who has attended my share of games, I certainly don’t think that’s the case.

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 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.

On April 21, Bayone, N.J. Little Leaguer Mackenzie Brown pitched a perfect game, retiring all 18 boys who got up to bat; she was invited to throw out the first pitch a Met’s game a few days later.

By Mackenzie Brown

I started playing baseball for the Cal Ripken League in Bayonne when I was six. I really enjoyed baseball so when I was nine, I decided to play in Little League as well as the Cal Ripken League. There are a lot of practices when you play in two leagues. Sometimes I have two in one day, but I love it.

When I am not practicing with my teams, I practice at home with my older brother, Daniel. He has taught me a lot about pitching because he pitches, too. Practicing every day is what makes me good. I like to pitch because it makes me feel like I am in control of the game.

When I was nine, I moved from rookie league to major league and that’s when I realized that there were only two other girls playing baseball. They were both a few years older than me.  All of the other girls played softball. At first my mom wanted me to switch to softball, but when she saw that I loved baseball she was fine with the idea. It never bothered me that there were no other girls my age that played baseball. I knew I could keep up with the boys.

Sometimes people joke and tell me that baseball is a boys’ sport and I shouldn’t play, but no one has ever said that to me seriously. I know a lot about the game so I can have a conversation about it with just about anyone. If anyone ever did say that seriously, I think I would ignore them. If your heart is in the game, no one can ever change your mind.

If I had to give advice to anyone who wanted to play baseball, I would say they have to like the game, and really want to play. Then, you need to practice real hard.

It does not matter if you are a boy or a girl. I would tell any girl who wanted to play baseball to practice even harder. Girls have to prove they can be just as good as the boys. I would tell them to learn all they can when they are off the field. They should watch MLB and listen to the sports announcers. They can learn a lot by doing that.

My favorite team is the NY Mets, and David Wright is my favorite player. I also like Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes and A.J. Pierzynski. I watch a lot of Mets games on television and I have even gone to a few games. We also go to a lot of minor league baseball games and when I’m not playing I like to go to the field and hang out.

My parents and my brothers are all very supportive. They are at every one of my games and my brother and my dad are always trying to give me pointers. When I am pitching I try not to listen to the people in the stands. I am pretty good at staying focused and concentrating on one pitch at a time. I try to keep the ball low, and just throw strikes. I never think of the score, I think only of doing my best every single play.

Next year I will be switching to softball. I think I will have some catching up to do to be as good as the other girls since they have been playing for a while, and I have never played, but I am willing to work really hard. I think if I start (I’ll be in 7th grade), I will be ready for high school.

There are not the same baseball opportunities for girls when you get to high school, so if I start softball next year, I’ll be ready. Hopefully, I’ll play through college.

My favorite part of this whole experience was meeting the Mets and throwing out the first pitch at Citi Field. I will remember that forever.

Being in the Mets dugout was exciting. I never thought I would be on the pitcher’s mound. It was amazing! I was nervous!! I thought I would be embarrassed if I wasn’t able to reach the plate. Fortunately, I reached! When I watch the Mets on television I think, “I was in that dugout with them. I was on that field.”  It’s a great feeling!

Mackenzie Brown is 12 years old, in sixth grade, and loves to play baseball and basketball.

In our insta-age, everything you hear about is old the second you’re in on it. But one big secret isn’t out: Girls are allowed to play baseball. (Well, kind of).

It’s 35 years since President Gerald Ford signed legislation opening Little League to girls, but it remains a shocker to actually find one on a baseball diamond. OK, of course, there are girls in Little League. But there are so few that everyone notices when they see one.

Parent antennae emit an alert signal the second they scan the field before a game. Their folding chairs may not be fully positioned when the buzz starts: Hey, did you see there’s a girl on that team? It’s not said with any malice, but rather like the way kids spot advertising vehicles on the highway. Hey did you see that truck shaped like a hot dog?

It’s a curiosity, and that’s the point. That this many years later so few girls play baseball suggests nothing less than A Great Baseball Conspiracy. This is one of those open secrets that’s as embarrassing to women as to guys because it speaks to the thousand subtle ways young children get messages about who they are and what they should – and shouldn’t — do.

In 2009, it remains scary for girls to play baseball, even at young ages when it most surely is not about physical prowess. Having watched my share of coach-pitch, it’s concerning to see the level of self-censorship girls apply to joining up for baseball. Why might that be?

Maybe thanks to ordinary encounters like one last spring in which each time two girls in a first grade (first grade!!!) Little League game reached second base they got the treatment from boys in the field: “Girls don’t belong in baseball,” “You cannot play defense,” There shouldn’t be girls in this league,” and, my favorite, “You cannot hit and we will easily get you out!” (Weren’t they already on second?)

This is not just another episode of kids-say-mean-things, but a window into the way we are raising our children. It is not helpful for girls – or boys – to have baseball serve as the vessel of American Manhood. Yet, somehow, from young ages the message gets embedded that baseball is for boys and softball is for girls. Any girl who plays baseball past fourth grade gets asked when she is going to “switch over” (read: stop making trouble and go where she belongs).

It doesn’t help that some states legally consider baseball and softball to be the same sport – which means for Title IX purposes that having softball means they are providing females an equivalent opportunity. As a female baseball player pointed out recently in The New York Times, “It’s like saying Ping-Pong and tennis are the same sport. ”

That was the issue last year when Indiana high schooler Logan Young and her parents filed suit against the Indiana High School Athletic Association. Public Justice and its cooperating lawyers succeeded in getting the association to pass an emergency rule allowing girls to tryout for baseball teams (good luck finding that key vote on their web site). Victoria Ni, a Public Justice staff attorney, says the association is expected to pass a permanent rule change when the full board meets in May.

Ni, who says the baseball-softball definition is just one of several problematic rules in Indiana school sports, says other states may be just as guilty but how to know? There is no master list of all the states that classify baseball and softball as the same sport, legally, speaking. “It’s a state by state fight,” she told me. “To research these rules is extraordinarily hard because you have to get in touch with each high school athletic association.”

One good move: After a nudge from The Women’s Sports Foundation, in December the NCAA’s Legislative Council “determined that baseball and softball are considered separate sports.” According to a February 2009 NCAA “talking points” memo, “previous interpretations of NCAA legislation stated baseball and softball were the same sport for NCAA amateurism and outside competition.”  Now college softball players can join baseball leagues in the off-season and vice versa.

While clearly a change meant to give players more flexibility without sinking their eligibility, this is a technical change which deserves some notice at the high school level – and younger. Baseball season is starting, it’s time for little girls to grab their mits and loosen up those arms.