DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette Former South Williamsport and Nebraska softball star Denise Day speaks at Wednesday's Hot Stove Banquet.

At the tail end of her induction speech at the Crosscutters Hot Stove Banquet on Wednesday night, 2024 Williamsport Sports Walk inductee and South Williamsport native Denise Day shared a story about her mother fighting in vain to convince Little League to allow her to compete with the boys.

“I was playing with the boys, practicing with them and they’d get to go out there on the field and play in the evenings and have their seasons. I would ask my mom (why I couldn’t compete) and she’s like, ‘I can’t give you a good reason. We’re going to find out,'” recalled Day, discussing an instance where her mom drove her to Little League Headquarters to figure out why. “Creighton Hale came out and gave us quite an explanation as to why little girls could not play Little League.”

It was a story that showed where the Little League World Series once was in terms of inclusivity and illustrated how far it’s come since. It’s been a process since the 1970s – one that’s still in motion to this day, but her recollections laid out how much the game has changed in terms of acceptance.

Growing up in a time where it wasn’t accepted to have girls compete with boys, Day consistently had to deal with people expressing that negativity. Though they were able to prove themselves on the field, they were only able to do so outside of competition.

“When I played to be quite honest, the parents weren’t ready to accept that the boys were playing with girls that were throwing faster than they were and hitting home runs off them,” recalled Day before the banquet. “They weren’t very nice to tell you the truth.”

A decade after Little League amended its Federal Charter, allowing girls to compete in Little League Baseball and creating Little League Softball, Victoria Roche became the first girl to participate in the Little League World Series in 1984. Since then, the list has grown to 22 girls, with the most recent instance being Tennessee phenom Stella Weaver.

Though she hasn’t attended the Series in recent years, Day still follows it closely. The former Nebraska softball all-star has been excited to see the progress the organization has made since she was a kid and loves to see girls like Weaver – who broke the Little League World Series record for most hits by an American girl – making names for themselves amidst the event.

“These girls are put up on pedestals and their athletic talents are appreciated. It’s so nice to see that,” said Day before the banquet. “I’m just so happy to see it and I’m so thrilled for these girls that are able to show their athleticism and compete against the boys because at that age they can and be accepted.”

That’s a sentiment that spreads across all sports that are seeing growth in that regard, as Day referenced Iowa women’s basketball point guard Caitlin Clark’s exposure, the USA women’s soccer team getting paid more deservingly and Nebraska volleyball seating 92,000 people as other examples of women being celebrated for their athletic abilities.

“I think that women’s athletics in general have come a long way,” expressed Day. “It’s so cool that it’s cool for a girl to be a great athlete and they finally get the recognition for their athletic abilities. It wasn’t considered cool back in my day.”

There’s still progress to be made, but the strives organizations like Little League have made to become more inclusive, along with the growing popularity of women’s sports, are certainly moves in the right direction.

“It’d still be nice to see more of the women’s sports being paid closer to the men,” said Day. “Progress to be made but a lot of progress has been made. I’m very excited about that.”