When I was 13, just getting on the field was harder than it ever should’ve been.

I was knocked back by clubs. Told to try softball instead.

And when I finally did get to play, I was often the only girl on the field. Sometimes the only one in the whole league.

At the time, you just get on with it. But looking back, it shouldn’t have been that hard just to play the sport I loved.

So for years, one question kept coming back to me:

How do we make it easier for the girls coming after us?

How do we make girls in baseball the norm, not the novelty?

Building the thing we wish we had

Legacy Girls Rising Stars started as a pretty simple idea.

What if we built the environment we never had growing up?

Not just another tournament.

Not just more games.

But a space designed specifically for girls.

Where they didn’t have to explain themselves.

Where they weren’t “the only one”.

Where they could just show up and play.

In January, that idea became real.

We brought together 128 players from 75 clubs across Australia for a five-day development camp and tournament in Sydney.

More than a tournament

Yes, there were games.

Yes, there was testing and training.

But that’s not just what people spoke about when they reflect on the week.

They talked about:

Confidence. Friendships. Belonging. Support.

Being seen. And seeing themselves reflected in 127 other girls.

They talk about how normal it felt.

And honestly, that’s the part that matters most.

We had a dozen current and former Emeralds alongside major leaguers, WPBL and ABL players jumping in to coach and mentor. You could tell it meant just as much to them as it did the players. Most of them never had something like this when we were kids either.

It felt less like an event and more like a community hanging out.

A team effort

This doesn’t happen without people who believe in it.

Huge thanks to Trent Oeltjen and Belle Clarke at Team Legacy Sports for backing the idea from day one and helping turn a “what if” into a “we did it”.

Their support, along with an incredible group of coaches, volunteers and families, helped create something pretty special.