Softball players at local Little Leagues don pro league's team names, jerseys

WINDERMERE As is customary with so many Little Leagues, the boys at Windermere Little League get to be on teams and wear uniforms of professional baseball teams.

Starting this spring, girls who play in Windermere Little League’s softball program will get that same opportunity.

The softball program at Windermere Little League — as well as the one at Dr. Phillips Little League — has named its teams this spring after teams in the National Pro Fastpitch league, the women’s professional softball league.

Now, girls from Dr. Phillips or Windermere will be able to sport the jersey of the Chicago Bandits or the USSSA Pride (based in Kissimmee) and dream of one day playing for that team.

This opportunity excites Kirsti Merritt, a former star at the University of Florida and current outfielder for the Pride.

“This is really cool to see — to see little girls wearing the Bandits jersey or little girls wearing the Pride jersey,” said Merritt after speaking at Windermere Little League’s Opening Day festivities. “That’s really cool, because now, they can be like ‘Oh, I want to play for the Pride one day.’”

“This is really cool to see — to see little girls wearing the Bandits jersey or little girls wearing the Pride jersey. ... Now, they can be like ‘Oh, I want to play for the Pride one day.’”

— Kirsti Merritt, USSSA Pride outfielder

The idea originated with Shawn King, Windermere Little League’s director of softball.

“My niece, Jessica Shults, used to play for the Pride,” King said. “We went down to games, and I was kind of astounded that the stands weren’t filled with girls — there’s so much softball in the area, but so many didn’t know about (the league). I thought a great way to raise awareness would be to name our teams after the professional teams.”

King said it has worked and that girls who weren’t familiar with the league previously now want to know where their new team name came from.

“We have girls (who) wonder where the names came from, and they find out and they’re going to Google and learning about the teams,” King said. “It is neat, because they can identify with players and identify with a team and cheer for that team.”

All of which is music to Merritt’s ears as both an ambassador for the league and the sport, in general. Although college softball is enjoying record popularity — in 2015, the Women’s College World Series’ television viewership eclipsed that of the men’s tournament — the NPF is still working to build its brand.

“Having these little girls know that there is a professional league out there, maybe it grows it a little more,” Merritt said, who added it can also encourage them to dream big. “Not just college softball, now they can go even further and say, ‘I want to play professional softball.’”

Contact Steven Ryzewski at [email protected].