Dear Girls with Game,
It started with a girl who just wanted to play baseball. She was good. She was already playing with her neighbors and friends, so she joined a Little League team. It was the early 1970s, and at the time, girls weren’t allowed to be on a Little League team. However, the leadership of Little League International made them remove her from the team. Her name was Maria Pepe.
While there were other girls across the country like Maria, it was her fortitude as a 12-year-old (with the support of her parents) to stand up for the right to play Little League that finally opened the opportunity for girls, like you, to play Little League Baseball and Softball. In 1972, Maria played in three games for Hoboken Little League in her 12-year-old season before being removed from the team, but by the time Little League changed its rules to permit girls to play in 1974, Maria had aged out of the program.
It wasn’t the end of Maria’s journey in sports, however, as she went on to play college softball and basketball, became an ardent supporter of girls in baseball, and joined us here in June 2024 when we held our first-ever Maria Pepe Little League Baseball Legacy Series. The event brought 96 female baseball players for a first-of-its-kind weekend experience at the Little League Baseball World Series Complex in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. It was there that Maria finally received the recognition she deserved as we enshrined her into the Little League Hall of Excellence, the highest honor we can bestow on an individual.
Just like Maria’s journey didn’t stop in 1972, neither did ours. The growth of girls and women in our program in the more than 40 years that I’ve been a Little League employee has been incredible to witness first-hand. This year, as we celebrate Girls with Game 50, a year-long anniversary looking back at that evolution within our program, what is more exciting is to look ahead. The barriers that Maria broke down, and many others that followed, have paved the way for enhanced opportunities in baseball and softball for females of all ages, and the horizon has never been brighter.
So, I say this to our current Girls with Game who are looking forward to taking the field in 2025 and beyond – if you ever feel like you don’t belong; If you ever think that you’re not good enough; If you ever wonder if you’ll get a hit or make a catch – know that you have that same resolve that Maria showed 50 years ago within you, and that everyone at Little League International is cheering for you.
Thank you for being a part of our team.
Sincerely,
Stephen D. Keener, Little League President and CEO
NOTE: The “Dear Girls with Game” letter series is a piece of the #GWG50 Celebration in 2024, with written letters from staff members from Little League International focused at inspiring the next generation of Girls with Game. To learn more about this initiative, visit LittleLeague.org/GWG50. The #GWG50 celebration is proudly supported by DICK’S Sporting Goods, a long-time Little League partner that is committed to creating opportunities for girls and women in sports and will be activating around key events and milestones this year.