Over the course of the past 50 years, there have been countless girls and women who have led in the movement to help bring opportunities to females within the Little League® program, but one young girl from Hoboken, New Jersey, truly was a pioneer in bringing a change the world would remember forever.
Born in 1960, Maria Pepe grew up like many girls continue to do today, loving the game of baseball. As a 12-year-old in 1972, she joined her friends and went out to pitch three games for her local Little League Baseball® team in Hoboken, New Jersey, enjoying the fun and teamwork that came with the Little League experience.
Unfortunately, after those first three games, she was quickly informed that she could not play on the team any longer or the league would lose their affiliation with the governing body – Little League Baseball, Incorporated.
“My coach came to me and told me that Little League said they had to take me off the team or the league would lose its charter,” said Ms. Pepe. “I didn’t want to make a hundred kids mad at me, so I had to step down.”
With her league located just across the river from New York City, her removal from the team quickly drew media attention and eventually the National Organization for Women (NOW), leading to a call from the organization to her family asking if they would be able to represent Ms. Pepe in a lawsuit against the Little League organization.
With Title IX established in 1972 and advocates throughout sports fighting for opportunities for girls and women, Ms. Pepe’s case against Little League continued through the court system, receiving increasing coverage by the media and a source of debate throughout the Little League program. However, in 1973, Judge Sylvia Pressler decided in favor of Ms. Pepe, writing: “The institution of Little League is as American as the hot dog and apple pie. There is no reason why that part of Americana should be withheld from girls.” The following year, the ruling was upheld by the New Jersey Superior Court, eventually forcing the amendment of the original Little League Federal Charter to remove the gender clause and permit girls into the program.
While unfortunately the decision came after Ms. Pepe had already aged out of the Little League program, it became the pivotal moment that officially permitted girls to play in the Little League Baseball program as well as the spark to launch the Little League Softball® program, which celebrates…
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