GLENVIEW, IL — When she was younger, Cayleigh Steele would watch her older brother play, and her father coach, in Glenview Youth Baseball. The Attea Middle School seventh-grader decided it was something she wanted to try. While many girls with a similar interest gravitate toward softball, Steele was insistent on giving baseball a chance.
“Most of the other female players that we’ve come across have similar stories,” Cayleigh’s father, Scott Steele, recently told Patch.
Scott Steele and his wife, Truda Chow, are trying to create more visibility for girls baseball, especially in Chicagoland. Cayleigh Steele is currently playing co-ed baseball for the Illinois Blue Jays 13U team (based in Mount Prospect) and for the Schaumburg Seminoles 13U team (based in Itasca).
Find out what's happening in Glenviewwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“I try to get her as many game reps as possible, which is the reason she plays on two teams,” Scott Steele said.
Major League Baseball Camp In Florida
Cayleigh Steele’s baseball talent is taking her places. She is one of just 96 girls in the United States to be invited to Major League Baseball’s Trailblazers Series this April in Florida. Her parents say Cayleigh received the invitation for the second straight year.
Find out what's happening in Glenviewwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
According to Scott Steele, the family found out about the Trailblazers Series from Mary Jo Stegeman, founder of the Chicago Pioneers girls baseball team. In 2009, the Pioneers traveled to Cooperstown, New York, home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, to play in the 12U tournament. Amazingly, the Pioneers were the first U.S. girls baseball team to play at Cooperstown Dream Park, and they did so in a tournament featuring 33 boys baseball teams. Stegeman’s daughter was a member of that historic team.
In 2017, MLB and USA Baseball launched the annual Trailblazer Series camp in 2017 for girls ages 12 to 13, coinciding with Jackie Robinson day at the Jackie Robinson Training Complex in Vero Beach, Florida. Cayleigh applied as a 12-year-old and was accepted. This April, she will return to the former spring training sight of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the “more competitive” 13-year-old age group, according to Steele.
Click Here: factory direct toddler products
Playing With The Boys
As Cayleigh’s baseball travels continue, Piper Heimbrodt, of Huntley, competes for the Glenview Blaze 13U team, a squad filled with boys. The Marlow Middle School seventh-grader began playing locally in T-ball at the age of 5 in a co-ed league because softball doesn’t offer a program for that age group in the Huntley area, according to Piper’s mother, Faith Heimbrodt.
“After her first two years of [playing baseball], we noticed there weren’t any girls left. They had all left baseball for softball,” Faith Heimbrodt tells Patch. “We asked Piper if she would like to change over and she said no.”
Faith Heimbrodt said the family approaches each season the same way by asking Piper if she thinks she’s still competitive on the baseball field and can “hang” with the boys. So far, Piper has opted to stick with baseball.
Piper and her family were introduced to Justine Siegal, who founded the organization, Baseball For All. In 2009, Siegal became the first female coach of a professional men’s baseball team when she worked with the Brockton Rox, of the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball. Two years later, Siegal became the first woman to throw batting practice to a MLB team, the Cleveland Indians, during spring training.
“Siegal’s [organization] has really helped Piper to attend some cool girls baseball tournaments and meet other girls from the U.S. and all over the world who play baseball,” Faith Heimbrodt said.
Last summer, Piper Heimbrodt attended a USA Women’s national baseball game. Though playing for her travel baseball team has prevented Heimbrodt from attending Trailblazers camp like Cayleigh Steele, her mother is pleased with the experience she’s been getting in Glenview.
“She wanted to play against teams she might not if we stayed local, [and] she wanted to get out of her comfort zone of knowing her teammates and coaches,” Faith Heimbrodt said. “We heard a lot of good things about the Glenview Blaze coaching and training, and Piper was ready to challenge herself.”
Despite Rising Interest, Challenges Remain
According to Baseball For All, which offers tips on starting an all-girls baseball team in your community, over 100,000 girls play youth baseball in the United States. Scott Steele said he has seen an increase in the number of participants in the Baseball For All national tournament each year. In addition, women have been taking on more roles in baseball, including coaching at the professional level, and becoming executives.
“Like basketball, volleyball, etc., it would be great if girls have the opportunity to play organized baseball from youth through the university levels,” Steele said. “A few girls have recently earned spots on men’s college baseball rosters, but for obvious reasons that’s not a realistic path for most female baseball players. Several of the current players on the women’s U.S. national baseball team pivoted to softball in college in order to earn scholarships.”
Locally, Steele is hoping for more opportunities for girls to play baseball in Chicagoland. He said there isn’t yet a “critical mass” of female players in the area to field a team, much less a program. Steele said many of the girls that played in the BFA tournament have joined all-girl baseball teams in states like Arizona, Florida, New York and California, where there is a larger population of female players.
Despite the challenges, Steele and Heimbrodt believe local girls like their daughters can succeed in baseball and are hopeful more opportunities will present themselves in the future.
“I feel most parents believe girls play softball and boys play baseball, but the movement is growing in girls baseball and in a very positive way that girls can choose which sport works best for them,” Faith Heimbrodt said. “I think that is what matters to the girls coming up, that they know they can play the one they feel most comfortable with. Piper feels a lot of love when she’s on the field, and that means a lot.”
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.