18 players form ‘This Is Us’ team

It’s been a week since all 18 players on the Scrap Yard Fast Pitch roster walked away from the team in protest of a tweet posted by its general manager.

Now those players — who include former Florida Gators Kelsey Stewart and Aubree Munro — have formed the This Is Us team, leading a new movement to support and promote Black women in softball.

Last week, Scrap Yard general manager Connie May posted a picture of players during the national anthem on the team’s Twitter account with a caption that quickly inflamed fans and players alike: “Hey @realDonaldTrump Pro Fastpitch being played live … Everyone standing for the FLAG!”

May posted the picture mid-game. When players saw it in the dugout after the game, they were upset and sought answers. The tweet eventually was deleted, but it didn’t end the dispute.

“I felt like she projected her political views and her stance on the matter onto me as an athlete under Scrap Yard,” Stewart said in an interview with ESPN. “I felt like she took my voice away. I feel like with everything going on in the world today, she hasn’t listened and she hasn’t tried to understand. I felt completely disrespected, and I was hurt and I was angry.”

Stewart is one of two Black players on the team along with outfielder Kiki Stokes. Although Stewart missed the game, she phoned into the post-game press meeting with May.

After May said the phrase “all lives matter,” Stokes walked out of the meeting. Soon, the rest of the team followed.

Although Stokes and Stewart were the only Black players on the roster, their teammates were enraged by the decision. The entire roster publicly vowed to never play for the Texas-based Scrap Yard team again.

“I’m appalled by the insensitivity [and] will not represent Scrap Yard ever again,”