Female Pioneers of Softball

Female Pioneers of Softball

For this Women of Diversity Group Project, my group chose to write about female pioneers in sport. Within that category I chose female pioneers of softball. During this paper I will discuss the history of the sport and female participation in the sport. I will also give some statistics and make comparisons between females and males involved in softball and baseball.

Softball was developed as an indoor game in 1887 by George W.Hancock in Chicago. He used a 17-inch ball with outward turned seams. In the Spring of 1888, Hancock’s game moved outdoors. It was played on a small diamond and called indoor-outdoor. In 1889 Hancock published the first set of rules because of such high popularity in the sport. In 1895 a fire department officer with the name of Lewis Rober decided that he needed an activity to keep the firefighters active during their free time. Rober was unfamiliar with Hancock’s version of the game and in 1895 adapted the game for outdoor play. Rober used a 12-inch ball with a cover like a baseball. In 1900, Rober named the league Kitten League Ball.

Later in the century, the first women’s softball team was formed in 1895 at Chicago’s West Division High School. The team did not receive a coach for competitive play until 1899. At that time it was very difficult to develop interest among fans. About five years later women’s softball received more attention when “The Spalding Indoor Baseball Guide devoted a large section of the guide to the game of women’s softball (Cohen 52).” In 1933, the Chicago National Tournament also advanced the sport. At this competition, the male and female champions were honored equally. Also in 1933, “the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) was founded to govern and promote softball in the United States (World Book).” The ASA set up a committee that established one set of rules now used by teams in all parts of the world.

The International Softball Federation was founded in 1952 to govern International competition. “The Championships in 1965 developed women’s softball by making it an international game a step towards the Pan American Games and the Olympics (World Book).” Eleven years later, women softball players were given the closest equivalent to Major League Baseball with the 1976 formation of the International Women’s Professional Softball League. The contracts of the players ranged from $1,000-$3,000 per year.