When my 6th grade son announced he was “following in the family tradition” and joined the school field hockey team, I was surprised. Turns out, he’s not alone, but is one of four boys on the team in a sport trying to grow it’s male following.

Last spring as part of USA Field Hockey’s developmental outreach, Cristopher Maloney, former player and umpire at high school, collegiate and national levels, started the Tiger Field Hockey Club in Princeton, NJ, to teach the game to girls and boys, aged 7-14. (He’s also the author of How to Umpire Field Hockey and is the editor for rules questions on the USA Field Hockey site.)

Even as Maloney puts girls and boys on the field together, the idea remains controversial — this fall a boy at Hillsborough High School was barred from playing on the school’s team.

Maloney, however, is determined to share the game, and many agree. In fact, parents with children in his once-a-week skill session, don’t understand the fuss. “I don’t see why there should be a problem as long as everyone follows the rules,” says Lori Fontana-South, whose daughters Shelby and Francesca both play. “My daughters aren’t afraid to play against boys.”

I spoke with Maloney about what male players mean to the sport in the U.S.

FGN:You have a coed program. What do you notice about girls and boys playing together?

CM: Firstly, there was no expression of, ‘That’s a girl’ or “That’s a boy.’ It wasn’t even on the radar. By the end of last season the only thing I noticed was that the guys learned a lot from the girls, because many of the girls were actually field hockey players [who played on school teams] and had played for a while. The boys got to copy the girls. The girls on the other hand, were playing against boys, and I think they left with more self-confidence because they had played against the boys.

FGN: Many people object to letting boys play on field hockey teams. Some worry boys will “overpower” the girl’s game. Do you see this?

CM: Are the boys so much better than the girls? Most of my experience with the boys and the girls is that the girls know what they are doing and the boy’s don’t have a clue. They don’t walk on and know how to play field hockey and take away positions. They are not that good. In fact, I know there are a lot of field hockey programs that go away because they don’t have enough players. All the arguments I’ve heard against it [letting boys and girls play together] don’t wash. “Oh the boys are bigger and stronger.” OK, but so is that girl over there – and that girl.

FGN: Others argue that it’s dangerous for males and female to play together…

CM: One of the brilliant things about field hockey is that players of all statures can be successful. The sport has a very unique set of rules that doesn’t allow for contact. If you make contact you are fouling. There is an awful lot that limits the contribution to the game that size and strength and speed might bring. Speed is an important variable, but you can be fast and not a very good dribbler. The overall point is that there are all these gender differences, but in the end, what are you evaluating? What does it matter if you can hit the ball 80 miles per hour but you can’t play?

FGN: You are working to create more opportunities for boys to play the sport. What obstacles do they encounter?

CM: People create all these subversive rules, like you have to wear a kilt. In fact, not everyone wears a kilt and a lot of teams have switched to shorts, but sometimes boys who want to play are made to wear a kilt. This is very prevalent and it’s disgusting. It’s an invention created to try to discriminate against one gender.

FGN: You recently discovered that a tournament you wanted to play in would not allow your players to participate.

CM: This fall, I have about 20 kids and I was hoping to play against other teams. I was starting to plan for us to participate in a tournament, but was told we were not allowed to come because we have boys. So I’m organizing a tournament here Nov. 12.

FGN: Where do you see the game headed?

CM: More and more boys are getting interested. USA Field Hockey is more aggressive about making more programs that are coed. Every sport in America that’s popular is popular with boys and girls – like soccer. I am all about field hockey. I am not about this gender field hockey, or that gender field hockey. But I know if field hockey is more popular with boys, it will be more popular with girls.

Tiger Field Hockey Club practice

By Lindsay Rico

Why did I decide to play tackle football in the 6^th grade? Ever see the movie “Little Giants”? It’s about a ragtag football team with a coach who is just as much of a reject as his players. The one girl (they call her “Icebox”) is one of the best on the team. The team (of course) wins the championship against the very team these  players had been rejected from at the beginning of the season.

Movies are movies for a reason. They aren’t realistic—you don’t say, “Hey, I could do that. I could make that happen.” But that’s exactly what I did.

After convincing my dad to sign me up, I realized that football isn’t actually as glamorous as the movies make it seem. To sum our practices and training up in one phrase: Football is running. Everywhere I went—I ran. If it was a break, the team would run to the water. If we were being punished, we ran up and down a hill at the end of the field for what seemed like an eternity. If we actually did something impressive, we still ran, but it was a shorter distance.

Then again, football is also hitting. My coach would always say if the play has nothing to do with you—if it’s going the opposite way as you or if you fudge your assignment in some way—put a “hurt” on someone. Hit someone. Anyone. It’s the least you can do to help your team. We did tons of drills that involved tackling someone and getting tackled at different angles and in various situations.

So I guess football is running and hitting.

There was one particular moment, however, that I value the most out of all the crazy events that occurred during my two seasons playing for the Indians. It was a moment when I compiled the most important lessons my coach had taught and used them to my advantage: I was playing cornerback on a particular play and the ball was being run on the other side of the field. I was jogging over to see if I could help out at the breakdown when I saw him. A lineman was charging at me from the opposite direction. I knew what he was going to do: he was trying to get the angle on me so that he could lay me out.

My coaches had warned us that this might happen. “Keep your head on a swivel!” they barked at us. Football is not a sport immune to cheap shots. Like many sports, if the ref doesn’t see—then it’s perfectly legal. But one of my coaches made an extra effort to warn me in particular and at that instant I realized why. Many of my teammates were nearby with heads turned, jogging slowly to where the play was occurring, completely oblivious. Yet yet this player had chosen to target me. I had made a great effort during the season to be like any other male player on the team but this kid who got a peek at my ponytail decided that this girl who had the audacity to play against him needed her clock cleaned.

As he came nearer, one thought occurred to me: Maybe I should just let this kid hit me. I mean, that is what a lot of young women are taught right? That boys don’t know any better and that there are some things that they will never understand. That we should let boys be boys—men be men? I was convinced that the only thing that kept this boy from “being a boy” was me. I was also aware of how great of a hit it would be and how hard I would hit the ground and how long it would take me to recover from his cheap shot. I would have to be sacrificed for the sake of his pride and the running standard that girls should not play football.

But then I heard coach’s voice in my head yelling “Thattaway, Rico. You kept your head on a swivel and he sees you but he doesn’t see you seeing him. So why don’t you knock this kid into next week?” And I did. I moved at the very last second  and checked him right in the chest. He went down right on his back. Hard. It was there, too, on the reel the next week as we reviewed the game’s film.

On or off the field, there is always someone looking to knock you down.  Football gave me tools I didn’t have before. Remember: Keep your head on a swivel.

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

Documentary filmmaker Jenny Mackenzie’s film Kick Like a Girl conveys the empoweringand enlightening experience when a soccer team of 8 and 9-year-old girls plays in the boys division — quite successfully. After Mackenzie’s visit to Wellesley College last week, I spoke with three student athletes about why gender equity in sports is so crucial at a young age and how their own experiences shaped their views of sport and life. I spoke with senior Katie Martore (soccer and basketball), senior Loretta White (lax and soccer), and sophomore Olivia Hulme (swimming and diving).

FGN: Have you every played with or against boys in sports? What was it like?

KM: Yes—when I was little I played in a co-ed soccer league. I remember the boys on other teams would make fun of me because I was basically the only girl who wanted to play with the boys. They didn’t think I was a good soccer player because I was a girl, but I finally gained some respect when I tackled a boy and told him to never touch me again. When I was little, it seemed that once the boys realized I was a good player they stopped bothering me and treated me like all of their other teammates. It was less about being a girl and more about my skills and talent. Once I shattered the notion that girls are bad at sports, the boys respected my athletic ability.

LW: When I was in elementary school I was one of three girls who played in the local Little League. The boys were a little skeptical at first, but as soon as I showed them that I could turn a double play and hit line drives over the outfielders’ heads they viewed me as just another ball player rather than the token girl.

OH: The only time that I ever played with/against boys in sports was in indoor soccer in middle school. I think that it wasa great experience because the team dynamic and attitude was very different with a co-ed team than just an all girls team. I feel as though we were more competitive and aggressive in playing and the boys did not necessarily go any easier on the girls. When we would play games, everyone who was playing was an equal and we just enjoyed the game. It was a better experience because we played with and against the boys.

FGN: Do you think girls grow up believing that they can’t play certain sports — or play certain sports with boys — even when they are in grade school?

KM: Yes definitely—girls are not expected (or allowed really) to play football, baseball or any other sport with the boys. If you are a girl you join the girls’ league, plain and simple. When I was in grade school, I always wanted to play kickball but I realized that only the boys were supposed to play kickball and so I was stuck deciding everyday whether or not to play with the girls (doing boring stuff) or jump in with the boys (worrying about what my classmates would think of me). There wasn’t much room for a girl like me who liked playing sports and wanted to do everything the boys and the girls did.

FGN: We’ve been treated to hearing about girls who can play with boys — not just the Mighty Cheetahs, but last week bowler Kelly Kulick winning the men’s Pro Bowler’s Association major tournament. What meaning do stories like this hold for you?

Katie Martore

LW: Hearing such stories is inspiring from both an athletic and gender dynamic standpoint. It gives me hope that we’re moving into an era where a woman will be recognized for being a tremendous athlete, as opposed to a tremendous female athlete.

OH: For me, stories like this simply reinforce my awareness that the ideas that women can’t do what men can or be as good as men at something are simply not true. I think that women have fallen into the trap/mindset that they have a predetermined path, one which doesn’t involve challenging the social norms or trying to do something that they have never done before, and stories like this heighten awareness that this is simply not the case. All women have the chance and opportunity to play in a men’s league, or even just challenge themselves by competing with a man for a job (something which many women think will never turn out in their favor).

FGN: What advice would you have for parents of girls around playing sports?

KM: It’s so important for parents to encourage girls to play sports at a young age—in the boys’ or the girls’ league. Sports teach bigger life lessons at an earlier age that they might not get elsewhere. Young kids can get real life experience in playing with boys and building their confidence and self-esteem that will help them tremendously as they become young women. Even if a girl wants to play football, parents should support and push their daughters to follow their passion. Parents shouldn’t limit a child’s interests even if they do go against what society views as appropriate for girls and boys.

Olivia Hulme

LW: Sports provide unparalleled learning experiences and instill a sense of pride and confidence, all of which I think is beneficial for any child. I can say without doubt or reservation, that I would not be the self-assured individual that I am today if I had not been allowed to pursue my passion for athletics.

OH: I would advise parents to not push their daughters to play/try out only “girly” sports but rather let them pursue whatever they are most interested in, whether that be ballet or football. The experience that children can gain from being in a diverse environment, such as with boys, is something that will help throughout their entire lives. I think that parents should be open-minded to the possibility of their daughter becoming involved in a ‘non-traditional’ competition or team, because in the long run, that will help them immensely.

FGN: Do you see athletics as having any political value for women seeking equality?

LW: I think that women must continue to work on ensuring that there are equal opportunities for girls and women in sports, but I also think that athletics can be a platform for promoting equality in society as a whole. The legendary Battle of the Sexes tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs legitimatized women’s athletic abilities, in addition to showing that woman can compete and succeed in a “man’s world.”

OH: I absolutely think that athletics is a powerful venue for women seeking equality. The ability to demonstrate equality in the sports arena can easily translate over to many other aspects of life, allowing women a strong platform on which to stand when they are challenged by men, or even other women, who do not agree with whatever political statement they are trying to make regarding equality for women in all aspects of life.

By Katie Culver

At the playground the other day a girl struggled to climb up a curved ladder after my son. She was wearing sandals. Her feet kept getting tangled in her dress.

Another day, a brother and sister at the park with their grandparents were swinging when the boy jumped down and ran to the next piece of equipment. The grandfather lifted the girl out of the swing and warned: “Now remember, no running! You have sandals on.”

“No running?” At the playground? Really?

When we wonder why women and girls still struggle for equal opportunity in this country, when we puzzle over why girls are so often discouraged – if not outright excluded – from sports, it might be time to consider how we dress our kids. From birth.

This is about more than the fact that gifts that come with a new baby differ strikingly. When parents shop for children’s clothes there is a clear (if oft-ignored) message being sent. Girl’s clothing has a common theme: “I’m cute” or “I’m a helpless princess” and “my looks matter the most.” Boy’s clothes, on the other hand, are all about cars, trucks, and sports — themes that suggest action and physical activity.

When my own daughter Mia started to creep it was obvious: It’s tough to crawl in a dress.  Yet, baby girls are always clothed in dresses.  Girls are at a disadvantage already.

I make sure Mia wears leggings/shorts and t-shirts and insist on sneakers she can walk/run in whenever we go out to play (the rule is the same for my son, who is five. You can’t run in crocks!).  The good news: At two-and-a-half, Mia runs and climbs like a champ, dribbles a soccer ball – and can throw a curve ball.

Yes, she is coordinated — but this is no accident.

Girls must be encouraged to develop physical skills early on and especially once they enter school. More often than their boy counterparts, girls opt out of physical activity—sitting out at recess and during gym class. Girls also tell researchers that they don’t “like” to play sports, both findings that emerged from my own dissertation study (“Shut Out: How Hegemony, Discouragement, and Opportunity Affect Access to Sports for Low-Income, Urban Girls.”) Or check out the joint study by Harvard School or Public Health and the National Women’s Law Center on Massachusetts girls lagging behind boys in sports participation.

(For those interested in more: see W.C. Taylor’s study, Physical Activity Among African-American and Latina Middle School Girls, 1999, or Lena Williams, Women’s Sports: Hispanic Female Athletes are Few and Far Between,” 2002.)

The point: It is tough to play when you lack skills and boys dominate the play space. But it’s even tougher when you are a girl who is not dressed for playing.

Forget puffed sleeves, ribbons and fancy shoes. Let’s change the focus of girl clothes from some rigid notion of gender appropriate “fashion” to function. From pretty to comfy. From the emphasis on looks to an emphasis on action.

And, while we’re at it, as long as we parents are consumers, why don’t we favor clothing companies that feature girls playing sports, driving cars and being active? Consider how girls’ perspective on sport would change if they could picture themselves actually in the game — from the start?

Katie Culver, a mother of (soon to be three) children, is a consultant for the Barra Foundation and conducts Gender Workshops for teachers and parents. She holds a Ph.D. in Urban Education from Temple University.

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.

By Laura Pappano

Let’s get over the woe-is-us tone that shrouds women’s professional soccer. Yesterday’s NY Times story captured the uncertainty league bigwigs feel around the (admittedly) very challenging task of filling soccer stadiums, and getting enough sponsor and ad dollars to give WPS staying power – and in a recession.

What’s troubling, however, is that WPS seems to want something it doesn’t have: raucous, beer-swilling, MLB and NFL fans (read: real fans). You know, the guys sports radio hosts describe as living in their mother’s basements and existing solely to follow every move of their beloved team and call in to talk about it?

It explains the origin of “fan” – that is “fanatic.”

In the Times story, Boston Breakers director of business development Andy Crossley says, “We need to get out of the ghetto of being a role model for girls.”

The quote was in the context of wanting to reach the men (again, read: real fans) who are taking the pony-tailed, soccer-playing daughters to games.

I dare say there’s not an exec in Major League Baseball who wants to get out of the ghetto of being a role model for boys.  (The stress, rather, comes because the jerseys of certain poor-role-model players suddenly become unmarketable.)

Why are young male fans courted and prized while young female fans are considered a sign of failure?

How will we cultivate a generation of season-ticket-buying female fans if we don’t value them as kids? (I suppose it’s a good thing Disney and Hannah Montana don’t discount the economic power of girls).

This is where WPS can learn from NASCAR.  A few observations:

1.    NASCAR has been all about serving the fans’ interest, creating the Sprint Cup Series to stir play-off-style excitement throughout the season, and this year mid-season changing the format of re-starts to increase the drama for fans. (Lesson: Don’t be afraid of altering the format).

2.    Drivers talk about the value of fan support and fans are known for shelling out and covering themselves in fan gear and buying sponsor’s products (Lesson: As a result, who wouldn’t want to sponsor NASCAR?)

3.    NASCAR’s fans base is changing – and that’s OK. An ESPN Sports Poll, for example, shows that today 60% of fans live outside of the South, 41% are female, and since 2000, the percentage of fans making $100,000 or more has doubled from 7% to 16% — and with that an increase in college grads (now one in four). (Lesson: You can grow beyond your original fan base)

4.    Still, the shifting fan base presents a challenge. In response to rising prices, drivers give away tickets to followers who feel priced out – even as execs think about what fans want. As one report quotes Richard Petty, seven-time champion and team owner: “We have to play the game a little bit different than what we did 15 or 20 years ago because society is dictating they want to see something different. It makes it really tough from NASCAR’s standpoint (of) what is the fan really looking for?” (Lesson: Be nimble and listen to your fans)

5.    Driver Jeff Burton actually likes kids among NASCAR fans: “There are a lot more families today, a lot more kid-friendly environments. Last week we went out to do hospitality on Sunday morning and there was a kid’s playground area with inflatable toys and all kinds of slides and all kinds of things. There’s been a huge effort to try to get children involved, which I think is a great thing.” (Lesson: Kid fans are not a negative; they are your future. Just ask the MLB and the NFL)

If pony-tailed girls are the core fan base of women’s professional soccer, work with that. There are other groups at games, too, including a report on the opening day of the L.A. Sol’s season describing the excitement among eight nuns from the order of the Eucharistic Franciscan Missionary Sisters (coincidentally dressed in heavy blue and white habits — the team’s colors), clutching T-shirts they’d won.

Guys who live in their mom’s basements may never buy a ticket to a WPS game. But who cares? Twenty years from now, that pony-tailed girl will want a luxury box.

Just two days before filly Rachel Alexandra made a splash by beating the boys at the Preakness Stakes, another female athlete tore up the racetrack – from in the saddle.

On May 14, 24-year-old Jenna Joubert became one of the few jockeys (ever) to ride three different horses to victory at three different racetracks in three different states – in a single day. She rode Chloe’s Song in the second race of the afternoon at Pimlico in Baltimore, Prove Meguilty in the first race of the evening at Penn National in Grantsville, Pa., and (at 11:06 p.m.) Cover My Six at Charles Town Races in Charles Town, W. Va.

I spoke with Joubert, who rides for Dane Kobiskie at PTK stables, LLC in Maryland, as she headed to Colonial Downs in New Kent, Virginia. Fortunately, this day, all her races were scheduled for the same track.

FGN: How did you become interested in being a jockey?

JJ: When I was little, I didn’t know women could be jockeys. Then I met Paula Bacon. When I was about 8 or 9, my family moved from the city to a rural farm, my parents got into the racing business and I was like, “I want to be a jockey when I grow up.” When I got older I started galloping race horses (that’s like exercising horses in the morning). I loved it. I love riding horses, figuring out their personalities and how to get along with them.

FGN: What sorts of personalities do horses have?

JJ: It’s like with people, every single horse is different. Some you have to be aggressive with, a lot you have to make them happy. You may need to have soft hands or light hands. Having light hands, you play with the bit in their mouth to get them to settle down. Race horses can be kind of flighty –  they are athletes – so some need to settle while some need to move all the time if they are standing around waiting. Otherwise they get antsy.

Jockey Jenna Joubert

FGN: How is racing different from simply riding?

JJ: The race experience is something that you can’t exactly train for. You can work hundreds of horses and practice and you can be as fit as you possibly can, but when you race, there is nothing to compare it to. It is very common for most riders not to know their horses. Because I ride primarily for one stable, PTK LLC, I know those horses incredibly well. Some horses get claustrophobic. Some have no problem running between horses. It’s important to know how your horse likes to run.

FGN: You spoke about being “fit.” Aren’t the horses the ones getting the exercise?

JJ: As a jockey, you use every muscle – you can’t even target all the muscles in a gym! The other evening I rode five races and it’s summer and it’s hot so I drank two bottles of water and every race you have to re-check your weight [and if you are sweating a lot] they have to add lead to your saddle to make your weight. [Jenna explains that every race has weight requirements based on each horse’s age, gender, and recent track success.]

FGN: Why do we see so few female jockeys?

JJ: Horse racing is considered a man’s sport, but it is definitely changing. Especially on the East Coast there are a lot more female riders. When I rode in the Midwest, it was harder to get my career going because you are dealing with the “old cowboy way” where they are not so inclined to ride you in the races. On the East Coast, there has been a lot more opportunity.

FGN: How much do size and strength matter?

JJ: A jockey is 110 lbs. and a horse is 1,200 lbs.  You cannot muscle a horse. There is a lot of finesse.  Some trainers believe it is all about strength, but if a filly is high-strung, they may try a female rider to settle her down.

FGN: How much do jockeys get paid for racing?

JJ: Jockeys receive 10 percent of the owner’s winnings. The owners received 60 percent of the total purse. For each race we ride that we don’t win, we receive a flat fee, which varies from track to track but is usually between $45 and $100.

FGN: How special was Rachel Alexandra’s win in the Preakness?

JJ: It is uncommon for a filly to beat the boys at such a high-quality level in racing. Those horses in the Preakness are the top in the country and it was amazing to watch her win! It is not uncommon, however, for young female horses to race against males and be competitive and win. You often find two-year-old fillies running with colts because there really isn’t a lot of difference at that age. I’ve ridden fillies in boy-races and won before. When the horses are older, or they’ve won multiple races, you tend not to see it as much — but it does happen!

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.