The Oakland Athletics have recently made history by becoming the first Major League Baseball team to hire a woman as a coach. Justine Siegal is set to serve as a guest instructor for the A’s 2015 instructional league at the Lew Wolff Training Complex in Mesa, Ariz.
“I was 16 when I told my coach I wanted to be a college baseball coach,” Siegal said. “He laughed at me and said a man would never listen to a woman on a baseball field. That’s when I decided I was going to get a Ph.D., prove them wrong. Since then, I’ve been able to coach at the college and pro level. They will listen to you when you know what you’re doing and you can make them a better player and show that you care about them.”
This isn’t Siegal’s first time making strides for women working in professional sports. She was also the first woman to be hired by any professional level baseball team as a coach when she worked for independent team, the Brockton Rox. In addition to her professional coaching positions, from 2008– 2010, she was an assistant coach for Springfield College, and threw batting practice to the A’s and five other teams during Spring Training 2011.
Siegal’s knowledge of the game stretches far beyond the field. She obtained her M.A. in sports studies from Kent State University, and her Ph.D. in sport and exercise psychology from Springfield College. Her educational background makes her able to teach the players in more ways than just practicing on the field.
While she’s busy forging her own path in the game, she’s working to create opportunities for children, especially girls. Siegal founded Baseball for All, a non-profit organization that “is dedicated to providing meaningful instruction and opportunities in baseball, especially for girls.” The Baseball For All website lists the goals of the company as to – “Foster, encourage, and provide opportunities for girls to participate in the sport of amateur baseball, educate the public concerning the importance of providing equal opportunities for girls in baseball, share the rich history of women and baseball, empower the players, parents, and supporters to start teams, leagues, and tournaments of their own, provide playing opportunities in baseball, partner with existing national baseball organizations to build a stronger network of opportunities, mentor girls as they pursue leadership positions in baseball, including umpires, coaches, and other nontraditional baseball roles.” To read more about Baseball for All and what they do, visit their website.
Through her own personal career, and efforts through Baseball for All, Justine Siegal is undoubtedly changing the game for women in baseball. She is living proof that women can and will do anything they set their minds to, no matter how hard it may seem!
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