Catching a dream
Sabrina Orlov
A hot Sunday afternoon. Bottom of the seventh inning, the bases are loaded and the home team is up one run. Number four hitter is up to bat. They all know her for the home runs that became a legend in the league. Without even looking to the catcher, she points the bat to the pitcher, adding defying pressure to the final moments of the game. The ball comes as a wild pitch, wild enough to pass over the catcher’s head without touching anyone. The runner on third base is going to try to steal home and tie the game as the catcher is running after the ball; she turns and takes a glimpse at the pitcher already reaching home plate. She throws the ball, loses balance and falls with her eyes closed. As she touches the ground she can hear the crowd cheering in excitement for the glorious win. Jamie Gray can’t feel the pain; she can only feel the joy of being 11 years old and winning a game.
The player’s first memories as a child always include a bat or a glove. Her mom used to play softball as a kid and signed her up for beginner’s classes when she was 5 years old at the Boca Raton YMCA. There she learned the basic fundamentals like how to throw, catch and hold the bat.
From that moment on, Jamie’s life was forever tied with softball, leading up to her playing for three different teams, practicing four days a week and playing tournaments almost every weekend.
Jamie stands out from other girls, with her technique, strength to throw a ball, determination and go-getter attitude. She keeps her grades up with hard work, all A’s and B’s, as doing well in school was the only condition her parents imposed for her to play.
IOC Cuts Softball
On July 8 the softball world was stunned by news that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting in Singapore had voted to drop softball and baseball from the venues for the 2012 Olympiad in London. Each of the 28 existing sports was put to a secret vote by the IOC, and baseball and softball failed to receive a majority required to stay on the program. Those were the first sports cut from the summer Games in 69 years. The International Olympic Committee then rejected the five sports wanting to get in and the other 26 sports were retained.
Tammy Gray, Jamie’s mom, was surfing the Web when she read the news. “How could I tell her that? It’s her life, her dream. I just wrote down the name of the Web site and gave to her,” Gray said.
Like many other girls across the country, Jamie started crying as she read the article, and by the end of it her mom was crying as well. When a child asks a mother, “This was my dream, what am I going to do now?” it’s heartbreaking not to have an answer, a quick fix, a kiss on a scratched knee.
But this girl didn’t want to sit around the house waiting; she wanted to do something. She just couldn’t adjust her dreams and decide to be a doctor or a lawyer instead of playing in the 2012 Olympic Games for the U.S. softball team. Being a famous softball player is all she knew and desired with her heart.
Last month Jamie and her mom had the idea of starting a petition Web site, a place where people could leave their signature as a sign of their appreciation for the sport. It was designed to tell a little bit of Jamie’s story and show the IOC that there’s a large interest in softball, not only in the United States, but also across the world.
Jamie is designing T-shirts to improve her campaign and help to put the word out on her fight. “My goal is to get 1 million signatures and get softball reinstated,” she said, sounding mature for her age.
Global Movement
The Gray family is not the only party trying to convince IOC that eliminating softball was a huge mistake. The Women's Sports Foundation is working side by side with other international organizations trying to mobilize the sports community into fighting to reinstate softball in the 2012 Olympic Games.
Women are significantly underrepresented in the Olympic Games, comprising 4,306 or 41% of the 10,568 participants in the last edition. The elimination of softball, double-trap shooting and the 500m time trial in cycling will result in a reduction of 3% or a net loss of 126 opportunities for women. Decreasing opportunities for women in the Olympic Games is inconsistent with the IOC’s efforts to increase gender equity in the Olympic Movement.
Re-establishing softball is a big fight for an 11-year-old to take on fearlessly, but Jamie Gray’s dreams are too big to be left behind. And as her mom always says “You can do anything you want. The sky is the limit.” You go girl!
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