Goya Dmytryshchak
Williamstown Wolves Baseball Club is fielding its first women’s team since 2006.
The move will give girls a pathway in the sport and women beginners the chance to start playing.
The club fielded a team in the Women’s Baseball League’s inaugural summer season of 1994-1995 and did so until 2006.
Williamstown won the Division 3 flag in its first year.
The club’s own Les Flower, a life member, was the chief executive of Baseball Victoria (BV) from 1989-2001, and was integral to the inception of the Women’s Baseball League in Victoria.
In the first season, BV expected six to eight teams to register but instead received 26 registrations. The following season, 50 teams registered.
Club president Michelle Sadler said planning for a women’s team in Division 3 was under way even though the season was expected to be delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There’s a wonderful appetite for women’s sport now and I just think it’s about time Williamstown joined, gave women a space,“ she said.
“We’ve always had a few women play and they’ve just played within our men’s teams and they’ve been perfectly happy to do that. And of course, in juniors there’s lots of girls playing.
“But there is definitely a very strong baseball league in Victoria and we want to be part of it and we want to give our current junior girls a pathway to stay at our club.
“We don’t want to lose them so it’s imperative we get a team together.“
Women and girls over 13 years, with any level of baseball experience, including none, will be able to join.
“It’s just basic hitting a ball, throwing a ball, catching a ball – it’s so much fun,“ Sadler said.
“A lot of people don’t join baseball because they think, ’I’ve never played before, I can’t play’, and they don’t think there’s an option to begin as an adult.
“We don’t care if you’ve never played baseball, we just care if you want to give it a go.“
Sadie Derrig, 13 and in her third year at the club, said the initiative meant she could keep playing baseball.
“I would really enjoy having a girls’ team as well as a mixed team because I feel like with a girls’ team you have the same experience,“ she said.
“Also, I go to an only-girls’ school and I can’t really talk to my friends about baseball but if we had a girls team I think that would be a great opportunity for them to come over.
“I’ve talked to my friends and they’ve said if there was a girls team then they probably would join.
“Right now, there’s no really professional league for softball or baseball but I feel like if there was a women’s baseball team then when I’m older I could still play.
“I feel that the mixed teams are just as important – they’re just as supportive and just as great – but I feel like it would be a great opportunity to have a women’s team.“
Games are played on Saturdays at either 1pm or 3pm, depending on the fixture.
Anyone wanting to register their interest should contact Michelle Sadler via 0416 002 433 or president.wwbc@gmail.com.
