As the calendar turns to a new year for communities all around the world, the official kickoff of the Little League® Girls with Game® 50 (#GWG50) Celebration is underway as we join together to honor the incredible Girls with Game who have changed our game and look to inspire the next generation to step up to the plate. The #GWG50 celebration is proudly supported by DICK’S Sporting Goods, a long-time Little League partner that is committing to creating opportunities for girls and women in sports and will be activating for this celebration around key events and milestones this year.
#GWG50 Photo Contest
The #GWG50 Photo Contest has ended. Thank you for your submissions. Little League International staff is in the process of selecting the top three photos that best exemplify the Girls with Game 50 Celebration. Check back soon to see the winners!
#GWG50 Pep Talks
#GWG50 Grant Program
The application period for the Girls With Game 50 Grants has closed. All grant applicants will be notified on or before April 30. Please continue to look for additional opportunities to support our Girls With Game from Little League International in the future!
For 50 years, we’ve raised up the courageous women who came before us. The ones who spoke out and carried the team on their backs. The ones who dug deeper, pushed harder – even when it felt like the bases were being pulled farther and farther away from them. But it isn’t enough to just raise our heroes up. We have to be them.
For the love of the game and the love of our team. We can’t get used to the way it is. And we can’t say thank you for what’s left over. We won’t wait for someone to open the gate for us. We are taking our rightful place on the field. In the dugout. Leading the team. Now.
All the naysayers? The got one thing right:
Girls should be at home.
And at first.
And at second.
And at short.
And anywhere we want to play.
Because we belong here. This is our Little League. And we’ll give every inning our all. Just like our heroes showed us.
We’ll rally our communities, and keep the game thriving, until the world stops playing favorites, and starts playing fair.
We’ll get loud, and keep the chants going, until we no longer need to have this conversation.
After 50 years, we’re unstoppable! We are Girls with Game, and we’re changing our game forever!
ACKNOWLEDGING THE PAST
Over the course of the past 50 years, hundreds of pioneers have helped get us to where we are today, fighting through adversity and proving the naysayers wrong along the way. As an organization, we acknowledge actions that should not have been taken and honor those women who paved the way for today’s Girls with Game.
Inspirational Quotes
Celebrating the Present
Today, hundreds of thousands of Girls with Game take the field each year and are serving as the inspiration for the next generation. This year, and every year, we join together to celebrate our Girls with Game at every level of the program, from our Tee Ballers to the long-time volunteers who continue to serve as role models in communities around the world.
Throughout the year, we will continue to spotlight the amazing people that make the Girls with Game initiative possible and enjoy key events and activities as part of the celebration:
- January 31, 2024: GWG50 Local League Celebration Toolkit
- February 7, 2024: National Girls & Women in Sports Day®
- February 7, 2024: GWG Grant Program
- March 2024: Girls with Game® Month Celebration
- June 7-9, 2024: Maria Pepe Little League Baseball Legacy Series
- July 28-August 3, 2024: Junior League Softball World Series
- July 29-August 4, 2024: Senior League Softball World Series
- August 4-11, 2024: Little League Softball® World Series, presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods (50th Anniversary)
- August 14-25, 2024: Little League Baseball World Series, Presented by T-Mobile
- October 12, 2024: Girls with Game Experience
Dear Girls With Game
Volunteer Spotlight
Staff Spotlight
Looking forward to the Future
As an organization, this celebration isn’t just a one-time event but rather bringing momentum to the movement that has been created over the last half of a century. Promoting and encouraging female participation in Little League is paramount to our core values of inclusion and building community. As we endeavor to create equitability in our program, bring new training opportunities to coaches and volunteers, and grow support for local leagues, it is imperative that Little League communities work together to create new opportunities to attract and keep girls in the program.
As part of its strategic goals, we are committed to providing equal participation opportunities for girls in Little League by 2032, as well as increasing the percentage of female coaches by 30% in that time. Through this initiative, we have also partnered with The Center for Healing and Justice Through Sport and DePaul University to pursue specific research to learn about current strengths and weaknesses related to engaging girls and women in the Little League program and to pilot a coach-training specific to coaching girls.
Honoring the 50th LLSWS
In August 2024, the world will come together in Greenville, North Carolina, to celebrate 50 years of the Little League Softball World Series, presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods, as 12 teams compete for a chance at the World Series championship banner. More information about the event, and the celebrations around the anniversary, will be made throughout the year and available at LittleLeague.org/WorldSeries.
Breaking Down the #GWG50 Logo
The #GWG50 logo is designed to represent the weight and power behind this celebration — the significance of fifty years of girls participating, thriving, and achieving in youth sports. It signifies the boldness it takes to compete, the sharpness needed to excel, and the flexibility needed to succeed in a team setting. The distinct shape of the logo can also act as a container to house our more energetic brand elements. It has the presence to stand alone, and the flexibility to work well and pair with any logo. Throughout the year, the logo will also be expanded in a variety of ways, including alternating color schemes and graphical elements within the logo. In addition to the logo, the campaign is focused around four primary colors that represent the Girls with Game and sets it apart from other entities within the Little League organization – Little League Blue, Girls with Game Purple, Softball Orange, and Trophy Gold.
Girls With Game News
The Little League Softball® World Series (LLSWS) is set to stay at its home in Greenville, North Carolina, as Little League® International and the City of Greenville have agreed to […]
The Celebration Doesn’t End in 2024. It Becomes Who We Are Moving Forward!