Last Friday evening, the cheers and chants sounding from Lions Ball Park in Yorkton could be heard from a mile away. One might think it was from a crowd gathered to watch a game, but there were only about 15 people in the bleachers looking over the park. All that noise was coming from a dozen young girls having their first ever under the lights baseball practice.
The Yorkton Pink Panthers are the only all-girl baseball team in the city. The team consists of 12 girls, aged about 7-9 years old. They compete in the rookie division of Yorkton Minor Baseball. There are four other teams in their division, but they鈥檙e all boys teams.
Brian Trollope is one of five coaches of the Pink Panthers. He also has a grand daughter on the team. He said they started the all-girl team last year with eight players.
鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to expand the girls baseball program. There鈥檚 opportunity for girls in baseball,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 westerns, there鈥檚 nationals. So we鈥檙e trying to develop a team.鈥�
While the Pink Panthers are the only team around the Parkland of their kind, other places in Saskatchewan have seen amazing success with all-girl teams.
鈥淭hey did it in Saskatoon in 2012 with 12 girls. They鈥檙e at 240 right now,鈥� said Trollope.
He said the Yorkton girls used to be spread out amongst the boys teams 鈥� usually two girls per team. Now that they鈥檙e all playing together, it鈥檚 a completely different experience.
鈥淵ou go to the dugout and there鈥檚 nothing but chatter. We鈥檝e got a bunch of girls and they鈥檙e all happy to be here. They鈥檙e learning together. We hope to expand this to other levels as they get older,鈥� said Trollope.
He said when the girls play on boys teams, they sometimes feel intimidated. With the Pink Panthers, they get to come together as do what little girls like to do 鈥� cheer, chant and make friends.
Trollope said they had to ask permission from Yorkton Minor Baseball to go with the name, since all the boys鈥� teams are called the Cardinals. He said the girls love having their own identity.
鈥淭he girls eat it up. They love being pink panthers 鈥� all of them,鈥� he said.
The goal is to grow the program, and Trollope said there鈥檚 an appetite for it which should help them reach that goal.
The Pink Panthers usually play on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at the Jaycee Beach ballparks. Fans are always welcome, and sporting pink to show support never hurts.
