Publicizing Women's Baseball

As a baseball administrator, one of Deb Bettencourt's duties is to attend women's baseball forums and conferences. Deb spoke at the original baseball forum at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York in 2002, and she attended the Leadership and Women's Baseball Conference in Toronto, Ontario in 2003. Along with these two events, the Slaterettes are planning on being a part of different charity events in the near future. Each of these events is one more that will increase the exposure of women's baseball, and possibly improve the future for all female baseball players across America.

When Deb first saw the women's baseball exhibit at the Baseball Hall of Fame her initial reaction was that it is no where near the size it appears on the movie 'A League of Their Own.' However, she felt that it was still a great exhibit. Since women's baseball is such a small thing, Deb feels there should not be a huge exhibit in the Hall of Fame because the Hall of Fame is for Major League Baseball.

When she first spoke at the Hall of Fame, there were people interested, though she thinks a lot of it had to do with the fact that it was just something on the Hall of Fame schedule for the day.

"Even when people walk into a room where they know you’re talking about girls’ or women’s baseball because it says right on the door, they still think you mean softball. Unless you’re holding the two balls in your hand comparing the size of the ball, a lot of people don’t see… they can’t grasp the difference."

They decided to redo the women's baseball exhibit at the Hall of Fame.

"It gives a better picture of the sport and women’s roles in baseball. They have audio now. They had the right idea. It’s one thing to see a woman playing baseball but I think when you get to hear what she’s saying about her experience, it’s kind of different."

The conference in Toronto addressed the idea that not everyone can play, but there are other things people can do. They went over what qualities people need to get women’s baseball to be a bigger thing. The conference served to allow idea sharing and networking.

Sometimes it is the support of well-known people across the country that can help to boost public interest in a topic such as women and girls playing baseball. Deb recalls that during a publicity event with the Yankees at the Sky Dome during this particular conference, Tracey Reiner (who played Betty Spaghetti in 'A League of Their Own') caused a bit of a commotion. She made her way right down to the field, and the next thing everyone knew she was on the jumbo tron interviewing one of the players. She and her mother, Penny Marshall, have publicly expressed their support of women in baseball.

"Even if it’s one person a year we can bring in, it’s going to help us down the road."

Deb talked about the opportunities that the girls in the league have had and how a lot of them do give back to their communities. This June, they will be doing a food drive. Next year they hope to do another food drive and work with Tug McGraw's brain cancer research foundation.

Deb is constantly working to try to get the word out about women's baseball, and although people know about women's baseball, the key is getting them to really listen.

So, does Deb think we will ever see a professional women's baseball league?

"There are a lot of different women’s leagues throughout the country and there’s enough interest there. Once everyone can get on the same page. The only thing is there really is no money to be made in women’s baseball. There are enough people that want to see it happen that it probably will. The problem is the distance. I think you’ll see a women’s professional league before you ever see a woman play in the majors."