Imagine a rare face-off between two exceptional baseball teams: one is Coach Dan Clouser’s amalgamation of adult all-star players, the other is the Colorado Silver Bullets, fully comprised of professional female players who’ve been virtually annihilating their male counterparts. Clouser’s 1994 team managed to beat his fierce female competitors, but, still, he was left inspired by their sheer tenacity.
Now, 22 years later as president of BIG Vision Foundation, Clouser has a personal mission: to advocate for girls everywhere to have the opportunity to play baseball — and to have a life path on an equal playing field. “Whether it’s playing baseball or choosing a career, women should be able to make the choice to pursue any dream that they wish,” he says.
The BIG Vision Foundation aspires to “develop today’s youth into tomorrow’s leaders through sports and community service,” and Clouser concedes that this mission is based on a platform of equality. So in September 2015, when he reached out to the International Women’s Baseball Center in hopes of garnering support to hold an empowering girls’ baseball gathering, a partnership was formed to host the inaugural IWBC Ruth Hartman Girls Baseball Tournament at the BIG Vision Sports Complex in Leesport. “Rocky” Ruth, a Berks native, was an original member of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the 1940s, the very league that inspired the popular movie A League of Their Own.
Because of the combined efforts of the BIG Vision Foundation and the IWBC, the late Ruth Hartman will not only be memorialized in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, but also with this girls baseball tournament. According to Clouser, the BIG Vision Complex is focused on tying Berks County’s rich baseball history to the efforts of today; it made sense to honor Ruth and her accomplishments with this event because, he says, “If you speak to any of her former players, they say she taught them about much more than playing a game; she taught them about life.”
“And this tournament,” Clouser says, “is about so much more than just playing baseball. It’s about equality and allowing young women the opportunity to choose what they want to do.” Taking place from June 15 to 19, the five-day event will provide girls ages 8 to 18 not only the chance to compete in a spirited pool play tournament, but also the inimitable experience of various leadership and empowerment seminars and the chance to meet some of the female players who are trailblazing on today’s USA teams. Families and friends will also be able to watch the games and participate in the welcome reception.
“The IWBC is looking to make this an annual event in Reading,” Clouser says excitedly, “which is not only huge for our community, but huge for girls' baseball.”
