UMPI Coach, Student Organizing Team for National Girls Baseball Tournament

PRESQUE ISLE—A national nonprofit called Baseball for All is organizing a national girls baseball tournament to be held this summer in Orlando, Florida, and members of the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Athletic Department are working to put together a team from Maine.

The tournament—the first of its kind to be held in the U.S.—is scheduled to take place May 30 to June 4 and is expected to include 24 girls baseball teams. UMPI Owls Baseball Coach Mike Pankow and Captain Oz Sailors are working to organize a team from Maine, to be called the Maine Polar Bears. Pankow will coach the team. Organizers are looking for approximately 12 to 14 girl baseball players between the ages of 11 and 13 to be a part of the team.

“This tournament is going to be an amazing opportunity and experience for all the girls’ teams around the country that are going to participate and we want to bring a team to represent Maine,” said Sailors, who serves on the Baseball for All board of directors. “I’ve been passionate my whole life about creating opportunities for girls to play baseball, so I’m doing everything I can to help make this team a reality for girl baseball players in Maine.”

Pankow and Sailors will be working with area schools and recreation programs in the next few months to help identify potential players, but would appreciate any suggestions from the community on potential team members.

Baseball for All is a 501 (c)(3) organization that is dedicated to giving young girls of all socioeconomic backgrounds an equal opportunity to play the game of baseball at competitive levels. The organization believes that very few girls play baseball in this country because they are simply not given the opportunities to do so. For more information on how to #jointhemovement, please visit www.baseballforall.com.

To learn more about participating in this national tournament, please contact Sailors at ghazaleh.sailors@maine.edu or call or text (805) 722-0365.