Latino Sports will continue to shine light on the power, resilience, and heart of unstoppable women around the globe this March throughout Women’s History Month
LOS ANGELES, CA — Over 1.2 million girls are involved with youth fast-pitch softball, commonly known as “Travel Softball,” and over 120,000 teams registered with the Amateur Softball Association (ASA), the governing body. In high school, there are 15,454 fast-pitch softball programs in the US and about 350,000 girls participate in fast-pitch softball at that level. It is the fourth most popular sport for girls in high school, number five on the list of all National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) sports for girls.
The next step is college sports for these women. There are approximately 40,000 women participating in college softball programs in the USA, with an average of 25 girls on a college softball roster.
Women’s Softball is an entertaining watch for all spectators and fun sport for participants – Image Credit: Columbia Athletics
Can they earn scholarships? Yes. Can they make money? Yes. Last year Stanford sophomore NiJaree Canady was selected as the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year. She recently transferred from Stanford to Texas Tech for an NIL deal reportedly worth $1.5 million. An amount worth more than many of the top men’s college basketball superstars.
The average annual salary for a WNBA player in 2024 was $119,590, with the highest-paid players earning around $252,000. We can honestly say that Canady is doing quite well. Starting to get the picture?
But let’s not get too excited about the opportunities for women to earn big money in fast-pitch softball. Only two-to-three percent of high school softball athletes get to play college softball. And as we celebrate Women’s History Month in the chaotic, unrecognizable USA of today, we do recognize the fact that the overwhelming majority of women in this country are not being treated fairly in sports and life.
I used Women’s Softball as an example of how hard it is to advance to the top of a women’s sport to be considered “Successful” in this country. The media covers women’s sports very well but does not cover the injustices of women trying to make it in the world we all live in as much. Women are being mistreated on a grand scale.
Women’s Softball deserves to be covered more on a national media standpoint – Image Credit: WBSC
When we hear “Women’s History Month,” we think of all the good things women have done for this country and worldwide; that’s wonderful. But there still is this fear men have of the possibility of females doing better than them, earning more money than them, and god-for-bid, being equal to them.
We must give women more than one month a year to recognize them. We need to show appreciation to women every day, not just one month a year, and respond to the fact that change needs to take place now in our male-dominated society.
Follow us on Social Media for updates and exclusive content
Instagram: @latinosportsoficial
Facebook: Latino Sports
Twitter: @latinosports
