Softball team’s hard stance
Squad stays united after GM’s tweet prompts walkout
Awareness, empowerment and unity. A professional softball team now going by the name “This Is Us” rallied behind those three words that simultaneously stood against racial injustice and flipped the bird to its general manager.
A total of 18 fearless players, plus their coaches, showed up on Saturday with the names of prominent black softball players on their back of their jerseys. The team includes 11 members of Team USA, which is set to compete in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
The bold statement of solidarity arrived five days after the team quit the Texas-based Scrap Yard Dawgs due to a tweet from its GM, Connie May.
The Dawgs played the Pride on Monday night, marking the first professional team sports competition in the United States following the coronavirus shutdown. Both teams stood on the foul lines for the national anthem while May used the Dawgs’ official Twitter account to send a shocking tweet that would cause her players to walk away from their contracts.
The since-deleted tweet from the Scrap Yard Pitch account was directed at President Trump and said: “Hey @realDonaldTrump Pro Fastpitch being played live @ussssaspacecoast @USSSAPride Everyone respecting the FLAG!” The tweet included a picture of the Dawgs and Pride standing for the anthem with their hands over hearts.
According to reports, the Dawgs learned of their GM’s tweet after gathering in the locker room. Players were caught off guard by May’s public anti-kneeling support using the team’s official Twitter account. The president has frequently criticized players and organizations that allow individuals to kneel during the anthem, a peaceful protest he believes is “disrespecting our country and our flag.”
The team’s only black player, Kiki Stokes, was the first to walk out of the locker room during a confrontation between the team and May, per reports. May is a longtime coach from the Houston area and became the GM of the Scrap Yard Dawgs in 2015 before their inaugural season.
“I felt alone, isolated, very confused,” Stokes told more than 200 fans who stayed after Saturday’s game for a group discussion. “I represented the organization for five years. A team I trusted. But I was let down and felt betrayed.”
All 18 players followed Stokes out the door within seconds on Monday, effectively leaving their contracts and futures behind. Many players stand to lose a lot of money through their contracts — including 34-year-old pitcher Monica Abbott, who is regarded as the best softball pitcher in the world. Abbott is a Team USA Olympian who also plays professionally in Japan, and she reportedly signed a six-year deal worth an estimated $1 million in 2016 to play for the Dawgs.
The players participated in lengthy discussions the next few days, which led to their forming a new team named “This Is Us.” Their custom jerseys were donated by 5 Tool Sport out of Texas, and donations through online ticket sales had brought in $36,454 as of late Saturday night.
“This Is Us. We want to continue to play, but MOST IMPORTANTLY, we WANT CHANGE,” tweeted veteran pitcher and outfielder Ally Carda on Thursday. “We will stand up for what we believe in. And I wholeheartedly believe in Us. It is time for change and empowerment. And we are here to make that happen in our softball community.”
Members of This Is Us and the Pride knelt during the national anthem prior to their game Saturday evening. Team USA pitcher Cat Osterman and Keilani Ricketts, two of the 11 Olympic players traveling with This Is Us this summer, combined for seven strikeouts in the 3-1 victory over the Pride.
This Is Us’ mission statement, which was relayed in a video posted to the team’s Twitter account and displayed during the fifth inning of Saturday’s game, says it is “here to spark a necessary change in the softball community, gaining and sharing
knowledge about racial injustice in our world.”
“While we were playing our first game of the season, a tweet was sent out on behalf of the organization that was insensitive, offensive and ignorant to the movement going on in this country,” said first baseman Sam Fischer, who wore former UCLA Olympian Natasha Watley’s name on her jersey. “Just because something may seem negative, we showed you can always turn it into a positive, and not be afraid in doing so.”
Watley, the first black female to play on the U.S. softball team in the Olympics, appreciated This Is Us’ courage. She told The Undefeated: “It’s powerful that not one of them stood back and said this doesn’t really affect me, I’d rather play. We’re already getting paid pennies and now we’re going to get paid nothing to stand up for this. That’s how much it matters.”