Baseball Victoria’s U14 State Winter Championships took over Bendigo with 30 games across the weekend of 2-3 July.
Out of the 11 teams, two were all-girls sides added as part of BV's growing women and girls pathway. The Blue and Grey BV Allstars offered an opportunity for junior girls to play on an all-female team following strong interest and successful tryouts.
The U14 State Winter Champs coincided with the Women’s Junior Sporting Festival, with 28 girls and over 150 total players joining in on the fun.
BV Allstars Blue went 4-2 overall, finishing just behind WDA at 6-0 in Pool A, while BV Allstars Grey made it into the Pool B grand final, finishing second after a 7-4 loss to Geelong. Overall, it was a memorable experience for players and coaches alike.
"I loved getting to work with players and coaches from different clubs, and establish a real sense of community amongst the girls," Coach Leah Trebilcock said. "It is important that we provide talent development pathways, such as representative tournaments, for our junior girls."
"It was incredible to have Emerald and Victoria Aces representatives, Morgan Doty and Abbey McLellan, as coaches. It is invaluable for these girls to have visible role models for what they can achieve."
Leah says the coaches have high hopes for the future of junior girls' baseball in Victoria.
"I hope that we can expand our offering for an all girls team in each age group of the State Winter Championships, and charter tournaments, and maybe one day have all girls tournaments for each age group."
Coach Andrew Fielden said the competition was well-balanced and gave the girls a new opportunity.
"Having two Australian women’s baseball players as part of the coaching staff was a great addition for the girls, something for them to strive for," Andrew said. "We hope to see the youth program grow for the girls, possibly into their own championship and leading to greater opportunities in women’s baseball."
The encouragement and support from the other teams helped the girls make the most of the weekend.
"It was the perfect opportunity to show that we belong on the field with everyone else and can be competitive against all other teams in the tournament," Nyah O'Brien said. "The best part of the tournament was to be with the girls, their energy and positivity throughout the tournament made it an environment where everyone enjoyed every minute."
"The coaches were amazing and so supportive and encouraging of each and every one of us to push to the best that we can. The tournament was a very enjoyable and created a team that I will definitely look forward to playing with again and playing in future tournaments together."
Teammate Lily McKenner said getting the chance to pitch was great, as was playing alongside some familiar faces. "We're all able to understand, communicate and include one another to a better level than what most teams are like. It also helped that majority of us have known each other several years before this team so it was like a reunion."
Lily Burns shared the sentiment, saying it was very special to not only play in her first-ever tournament, but play with an all-girls team.
"The best part would be how everyone cheered on their team mates. If someone got out, the team would cheer them on for having a go," Lily said. "When the pitcher threw a strike or someone had a base hit, there was so much cheering and everyone was supportive."
BV Allstars Blue MVP Caitlin Hoy hopes other young girls are inspired to stick with their baseball goals.
"It would be an amazing feeling if more young girls are inspired to play baseball from seeing this team and the growing opportunities for women in baseball," Caitlin said. "It was a really great atmosphere to play on an all-girls team, as this was the first time for most of us to play on an all-female team during a tournament and play with people our age."
"The best part of the tournament was not just the on-field play but the friendships created throughout the whole experience. Being surrounded by amazing coaches and having assistance from current Australian Emerald players such as Morgan Doty and Abbey McLellan has further inspired me to chase my goals of playing on the Victorian women’s team with my fellow current teammates from this tournament, and one day hopefully making the Emeralds team."
Photo: Lee Dare