Boys Get Trophies, Girls Get Gift Bags for State Championships – Parents Are Angry

The prizes awarded at the Florida State Babe Ruth Championships had the parents of the children who participated up in arms, saying that the league did them a disservice. The boys got trophies, while the girls were handed goody bags.

After walking away as the champions of the Florida State Babe Ruth Softball Championship, the girls were awarded gift bags. In contrast, the boys who were crowned victorious in the baseball championship were given trophies to celebrate their win.

The parents were not happy about the disappointing reward that their daughters received after winning every game throughout the league. There was an expectation that they would also be given trophies.

DISSERVICE TO THE GIRLS

After watching the boys receive 14-inch trophies, the girls who played for the Oviedo 6U all-stars were given a goodie bag filled with a softball, bag tag, and batting gloves.

A mother of one of the girls, Ashlee Partin, shared that the league did a disservice to their girls by not giving them a trophy and that the disappointment was evident. Partin said:

“They thought they were getting trophies, they thought they were coming home to family and friends, that, ‘here’s my trophy, here’s my proof, I just won state,’ and unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.”

TO SOCIAL MEDIA

Partin took to social media to share her unhappiness about the double standard set with the boys' and girls' championship-winning awards and inequality that is represented in the sport.

The head of Oviedo Babe Ruth Baseball is now making an effort to make the wrong right and is hosting a ceremony.

The upset mother posted the lengthy email that she sent to the corporate executives of the league. In it, she highlighted exposure to antiquated inequality in female sports as one of the main issues she was troubled by.

INTERVENTION BY THE LEAGUE

Partin revealed that the response to her email was not what she had hoped, as nobody took responsibility in the matter but rather offered excuses and explanations as to why they made the decision not to give the girls trophies.

While the tournament was not organized by Oviedo Babe Ruth but by the state, Oviedo Babe Ruth still intervened and responded to the distraught parents. The president of Oviedo Babe Ruth, Jim Brashear, said:

“I don’t think we should be sending the message in today’s world that the girls don’t deserve the same recognition as the boys for the same accomplishment.”

PROPER CELEBRATIONS

The head of Oviedo Babe Ruth Baseball is now making an effort to make the wrong right and is hosting a ceremony this weekend to properly celebrate the girls and award them with the trophies that they have worked so hard toward.

Partin revealed that she is happy to see the organization stand with the girls' team and ensure that they receive the same treatment which they rightly deserve.

The Babe Ruth state leadership will also be in attendance at the special ceremony for the victorious girls in an attempt to bury the hatchet and clear up any misunderstanding that has occurred.