What it takes to succeed as a woman in baseball — and how the game can grow

The rejection was crushing.

It was 1981 and Lisa Turbitt, then a 12-year-old baseball fanatic, was looking to carve a future for herself in the sport.

But the message was clear to her when Turbitt, now a highly successful umpire and the only woman to ever umpire in the World Baseball Classic, was sent home from training despite being just as talented as her male counterparts: There was no room for a girl at the next level. 

Space wasn’t going to be given to her, so with passion, determination and grit, Turbitt made her own.

In celebration of International Women’s Day, here’s her story, and stories from four other prominent Canadian women who have all had success in baseball, sharing some of the challenges they’ve endured throughout their careers and what they’d like to see for women in the sport moving forward. 

Although each of these women became involved with the game at separate times, and in unique places and spaces, they were all told they didn’t belong. Whether it was being sent home from training at 12, being told to pursue softball instead, being given extra tasks that weren’t required of men, or simply seeing nobody else like them in the space, they were shown they had to work at least twice as hard to prove themselves.

In the face of that, though, these five women persevered, inspired by the love they have for the game.  

Lisa Turbitt, Umpire 

When Lisa Turbitt was sent home from umpire training 44 years ago, she stuck with it. 

Her passion was stronger than any rejection she faced, from “Why are you here? The softball field’s over there” and “Why aren't you in the kitchen?” to less-overt sexism disguised as concern, such as, “You could get hurt.”

She’s now one of the most decorated umpires in Canadian baseball. In 2004, she was the first woman to work behind home plate in international competition at the Women’s Baseball World Cup, and in 2022, she became the first woman to work a World Baseball Classic.

One moment in particular sticks out from that WBC. On a delay in play, former Blue Jays pitcher LaTroy Hawkins, who was Brazil’s pitching coach, came out to talk to Turbitt. 

Then, Turbitt says, “he starts to walk away, and he looks at me again and he goes, ‘And thanks for being here. My daughter is at home watching you.’”

That was a special moment for Turbitt, tangible evidence of the growth the sport has seen since she was sent home from that training session all those years ago.

However, it still has a ways to go, she says, and having more representation in the sport is key.  

Although she missed out on role models growing up, she’s been able to be exactly that for girls watching her in person and on TV.

“Now I have people who realize their wife or daughter or sister or whoever, maybe they can be a part of this game that I love so much,” she says. “I think that's the part that's kind of cool.”

If you’re a girl or a woman who shares that love today, follow it, Turbitt says, and don’t ever give up.

“Don’t let other people crush your dreams or your goals,” she says. “All those people who said I couldn't do it, look at me now, look at all the things I would've missed doing.

“And look at all the things I accomplished despite that.”

Ellen Harrigan, Los Angeles Dodgers Vice President, Baseball Administration 

As a woman getting her start in the game in the 1980s, Ellen Harrigan faced obstacles men didn’t have to navigate. Harrigan, who started her career in 1981 with the Toronto Blue Jays baseball operations department under Pat Gillick, says women were asked to do extra things men weren’t. 

“’Get me a cup of coffee, pick up my lunch,’ that type of thing,” says Harrigan, who has worked for the Dodgers for 26 years as the      club’s vice president of baseball administration. 

“You had to go past barriers that maybe the average guy wouldn’t have to go through,” she says. 

Since those early days, she’s seen the game grow exponentially, and now, there are a lot more opportunities for women. More money and expanding front office staffs have opened the door to a higher number of women in the game through sheer growth, she says. 

However, she would still like to see more representation, and opportunities, for women in baseball moving forward — specifically, a higher number of women working in the top levels of the game, “where we see a lot of old white men,” she says.

She’d also like to see women playing professionally. 

“That may take a few years but it’s possible, and I’d love to see that in my lifetime,” Harrigan says. 

Ashley Stephenson, Dunedin Blue Jays Position Coach

When Ashley Stephenson was trying to decide what she wanted to do with her life as a kid, working as a coach in professional baseball wasn’t even on her radar. That’s because there was no representation at that level. 

Now Stephenson, much like Turbitt, has become that living proof for so many girls across the country, earning her way onto the Dunedin Blue Jays coaching staff with talent and determination. Last year, the longtime national team player became the second woman individually inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, and she’s the second woman hired in a coaching role by the Blue Jays (after Jaime Lever, who joined the organization in 2022 as a minor league hitting coach). 

The game has come far in the past 20 years for women, Stephenson says, but it still has a long way to go. For young girls growing up in Canada, opportunities to play in a league with other girls are still slim-to-none. Attention and effort really needs to be focused on growing the game at the grassroots level, she says.

“Until we have that base of the iceberg, you're just not going to get to the top,” Stephenson says.

A junior national team — something men have had for years — would be a key step forward as well, she notes. And indeed, in order to progress, the women’s game needs support, money and resources to help make change happen.

“All of the things that the men get to make their game successful, we need it — and honestly, maybe even more,” Stephenson says.

Kate Psota, Canadian Women’s National Team Coach

It was a comment Kate Psota heard often playing baseball growing up: “You’re going to have to switch to softball. There’s no opportunity for you in baseball.” 

The longtime national team player and current coach, who was inducted into her hometown of Burlington, Ont.’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2023, didn’t let that discourage her.

She joined the WNT at its inception in 2004, as an 18-year-old, and has represented Canada at every single World Cup since, helping the country to seven medals (two silver and five bronze).

Like Stephenson, Psota highlights the importance of grassroots-level baseball, and of providing opportunities for girls to continue to play the game, including the creation of a junior national team, which she notes would also help the country retain athletes it's      losing along the way, bettering Team Canada in the future.

“Perhaps they're not walking right onto the national team, we end up losing quite a few of them that way as well," Psota says. “They’re going to other sports and other opportunities. Certainly you can’t blame them, they're all exceptional athletes [and] they're going to go where their opportunities are.”

Sena Catterall, 2024 Canadian Women’s National Team MVP

“You can get her [out], she's a girl.” 

Playing baseball with the boys as a kid, Sena Catterall, Canada’s centre fielder and MVP for 2024, heard comments like this from the opposing teams coaches all the time.

The 2023 Ashley Stephenson Award winner — given to a WNT player for their leadership, spirit and on-field accomplishments — didn’t let the outside noise get in the way of what she was capable of accomplishing, though. And among her many accomplishments in the game, Catterall was a key piece of Canada’s bronze-medal team at the World Cup last year in Thunder Bay, leading all players in stolen bases and runs.

Like Harrigan, the 23-year-old sees progress in the sport for women coming in the form of increased opportunities. Creating those is key, Catterall says.

“Having a future to grow into and play into where you look up as a kid and you [can say], ‘When I'm older, I want to play for this,’ [is so important],’” she says.