‘Political’ tweet prompts players to boycott pro club
Olympic gold medalist Cat Osterman said she and her teammates will no longer wear the uniform of the Montgomery Countybased Scrap Yard Dawgs pro softball team after a photo of the team standing for the national anthem was, in her words, “hijacked” by the team’s general manager for the GM’s political ends.
Osterman, 37, who is preparing for her third trip to the Olympic Games next year in Tokyo, and her teammates were injected without their knowledge or consent on Monday night in Viera, Fla., into the ongoing discussion regarding athletes who choose to kneel during anthem performances to protest racial inequality and social injustice.
During a game against USSSA Pride, another independent pro softball team, a tweet was posted on Scrap Yard’s Twitter account with a picture of players standing and the words, “Hey @realDonaldTrump Pro Fastpitch being played live @usssaspacecoast @USSSAPride Everyone respecting the FLAG!”
That post produced sharp retorts from Osterman and several other players, as well as a Facebook repudiation of the tweet, which subsequently was deleted but archived by several Twitter users, by USSSA Pride.
“We have all said we are walking away from Scrap Yard and will not wear
Scrap Yard uniforms,” Osterman said Tuesday morning. “For now, we’re 15 or 16 girls and coaches who don’t have an organization.
“Now we have to decide if we want to continue playing and what that would look like.”
She said that she and other Scrap Yard players expressed their displeasure after the game to Connie May, Scrap Yard’s general manager, who was the author of the tweet.
“The GM tried to defend her tweet by saying it came from a good place in her heart and that she was proud of us taking the field and being able to unite, so to speak,” Osterman said.
“This team is very united. We were proud to take the field, and it would have been a platform for showing that sports can continue. However, it was hijacked by being political.
“When we asked (May) what she was thinking, she replied, ‘Obviously, I didn’t think enough.’ ”
Compounding the tone-deaf nature of the tweet, Osterman said, is the fact that one of Scrap Yard’s veteran players, Kiki Stokes, is black.
“When you make that kind of statement on behalf of the organization, knowing that (Stokes), who has been the face of your organization for five years, is a black athlete, that is just ignorant, and we won’t stand for it,” Osterman said.
Stokes, an outfielder and catcher, said on Twitter that she was “betrayed, embarrassed, disgusted, angry” by May’s actions.
“To come into that locker room after a game and have no idea that the organization I stayed loyal to for the last 5 years and put my honest to God heart and soul into wasn’t looking out for me but more importantly my community hurts,” she wrote.
Osterman, the former University
of Texas standout who at 37 has been named to the 2021 Olympic team after coming out of retirement, is one of several Olympic team members who were playing for Scrap Yard Fast Pitch.
The team was scheduled to play seven games in Florida and a dozen games later this summer at the Dawgs’ home field near The Woodlands, but Osterman said those plans are now in question after May’s tweet.
Tuesday was a scheduled off day, and Osterman said players planned to meet during the afternoon to decide how to proceed.
“We were used as pawns in somebody else’s political agenda, and that is not what you want when you put your trust in an organization,” Osterman said. “You don’t see NFL teams, NBA teams, MLB teams, NHL, WNBA posting their political agenda with their entire team tagged in it.
“People want to say you don’t support standing for the anthem. It’s not about the anthem, and it’s
not about the flag. It’s about not being cognizant of the fact that you are making 17 people part of your statement, and now the entire team and coaching staff have all stepped down.”
Olympian Monica Abbott was among several other players who joined Osterman in repudiating May’s use of the photo in a manner they said did not represent the feelings of players.
“I believe softball to be an inclusive sport. Any shape, size or color can be good at this game,” Abbott said. “But it doesn’t mean that the organization believes the same. Being blindsided, with a tweet like this in the middle of the game, is the uttermost disrespect to my black teammates, all athletes and supporters. And it is not acceptable.”
On its Facebook account, USSSA Pride wrote, “As an organization, we do not condone this tweet nor do we support the intended goal of its sender — an individual who is not authorized to speak on behalf of USSSA in any capacity.
“Sadly, both the nature and the objective of this message are incredibly damaging and disrespectful to athletes, fans, and the community as a whole. More importantly, the tweet’s subtext is harmful and counterproductive to the current racial justice movement — a movement that the USSSA Pride fully supports and stands behind.”
Monday’s game was touted as the post-lockdown return of U.S. professional team sports. About 300 fans were in attendance, according to media reports.
There was no reference of the anthem tweet controversy Tuesday morning on Scrap Yard FastPitch’s Twitter or Facebook accounts. There was no immediate response to a request for comment left with the team’s Montgomery County office.