Tohoku Little League out of Iwate, Japan, has been named the 2025 Girls with Game® Team Sportsmanship Award recipient based on their conduct and interactions both on and off the field throughout its time competing in the Little League Softball® World Series, Presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods, in Greenville, North Carolina.
“As we reflect on another successful tournament full of competitive softball and lifelong memories, we are proud to name Tohoku Little League as the recipient of the 2025 Girls with Game Team Sportsmanship Award,” said Ashlea Miller, Little League Director of Softball Development and Little League Softball World Series Tournament Director. “While this marks the first year Japan has ever participated in the Little League Softball World Series, this team has truly lived out the core values of the Little League program and truly exemplified what it means to be Girls with Game throughout the entirety of this tournament.”
Presented for the first time during the 2021 Little League Softball World Series, the Girls with Game Team Sportsmanship Award recognizes the team that shows what it means to be “Girls with Game” both on and off the field. The Little League Girls with Game Initiative, originally launched in 2019, is dedicated to honoring all the girls and women who have made the Little League program what it is today and those who inspire the future generation of female participants at every level.
Members of the Little League International Staff, LLSWS Tournament Committee, participating managers, volunteers, and media were given the chance to vote on which team they believed should be recognized for this award. In addition, through its partnership with the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) and the AUSL Pro Games at the LLSWS where the athletes got to interact with the Little Leaguers over the course of two days, Little League International was able to have the professional softball players contribute to the voting to ultimately determine this year’s recipient.
Previous Girls with Game Team Sportsmanship Award Recipients: