Sporty Girl News: France's Melissa Mayeux Becomes First Female to Make the MLB International Registration List

We posted this yesterday on our Facebook page, and the news was so exciting that we thought we'd post it again here on the blog. Melissa Mayeux is a 16 year-old shortstop on the French U-18 Junior National Team. Major League Baseball in the USA has added Mayeux to the International Registration List. This doesn't mean that she is going to get signed by an MLB team but only those on the list can be signed.

In the video, Mayeux says that she hopes to continue to play baseball as long as possible staying in France until she's 18 and then looking for a University or other opportunity abroad.

At Sporty Girl Books we are thrilled that the MLB is open to recognizing true baseball talent no matter the gender of the player. We know that Melissa Mayeux, Mo'ne Davis (who just got invited to play with the Harlem Globetrotters for her court skills) and other talented female athletes are eager to be recognized, respected, and signed.

A shout out to Justine Siegal and #baseballforall for helping to encourage and train the next generation of successful baseball players.

From MLB.com

At noon on Sunday afternoon, a 16-year-old French girl made Major League Baseball history.

Melissa Mayeux, a shortstop on the French U-18 junior national team, became the first known female baseball player to be added to MLB's international registration list, which means she will be eligible to be signed by a Major League club on July 2.

International prospects, Mayeux included, are typically added to the international registration list at MLB-sanctioned events after verifying their dates of birth and citizenship; while anyone can technically be added to the list, only those who have the potential to actually be signed are customarily registered.

Is it possible that Mayeux will be signed? Sure. Is it likely? Probably not, but the simple fact that Mayeux has been added to the list solidifies her status as a legitimate player. Mayeux, for her part, just wants to play. She speaks little English and is unaware that her presence on the registry might be seen as newsworthy in the United States.

"Melissa just wants to have to most opportunity she can in baseball," said Boris Rothermundt, a coach with the French national team who has been working with Mayeux since she joined the program two years ago as a member of the U-15 team. "She is not at all thinking about being the first female on the list."

Mayeux, who has been a presence on the international youth scene for a while, is simply focused on keeping her baseball career going.

Donate to help girls on #GivingTuesday and Every Day

My parents kept a large pottery bowl on top of a tall cabinet. The bowl was shallow and wide and throughout the year, they'd place in it all the letters asking for money. Come the beginning of December, they'd cull through the bowl, recycle duplicates and winnow down the pile to decide where their giving money would go.

Most of the giving I do takes the form of volunteering my time, baking for sales, and buying poinsettias and such for organizations in which my kids are involved.  I may not have that wide, shallow pottery bowl, but I still care about where my money goes and how it can best help others.

One of the things I want my money to do is to help advance opportunities in sports for girls and women. As I mentioned in my review of Blumenthal's, Let Me Play, the progress of women in education and in business has paralleled the progress of women in sports. Here are a few larger organizations that we've mentioned on Sporty Girl Books you might want to consider today on #GivingTuesday or any time of the year.

Women's Sports Foundation:
Founded in 1974 by tennis legend, Billie Jean King, the Women's Sports Foundation is dedicated to advancing the lives of girls and women through sports and physical activity. Their programs include Sports4Life, a national effort to increase the participation and retention of African American and Hispanic girls, ages 11-18 in developmental youth sports programs and GoGirlGo!, an award winning curriculum and sports education program, that works to improve the health of sedentary girls and keeps girls involved in physical activity by supporting programs and organizations that work with girls. Donate here.

The Girl Scouts of America:
From building healthy girls to creating healthy leaders, the Girl Scouts are encouraging girls to participate in GirlSports, a program that promotes group and individual sports as an opportunity to gain vital leadership skills. They offer Legacy Athlete badges that signify good sportsmanship, cross-training knowledge, coaching skills, and more. They can upload their own stories and be inspired by sports trailblazers. Donate here. 

Baseball for All:
Justine Siegal made history in 2011 when she became the first woman to throw batting practice to an MLB team. Her organization, Baseball For All, fosters, encourages, and provides opportunities for girls to participate in baseball. They educate the public concerning the importance of providing equal opportunities and provide resources for girls who are told they are not allowed to try out for a school team. "If you tell a girl she can't play baseball what else will she think she can't do?" Donate now.

We Need Diverse Books:
If you read this blog, you probably know a little bit about this issue. Bottom line, all children should be able to see themselves in a book. This organization supports diverse authors in classrooms, internships in publishing, diverse books and programming, diversifying classrooms, and developing educational kits for libraries and schools. The organization's main goal is to promote non-majority narratives and many of our athletic girls fall into this category in one way or another. Donate now.

Leave a comment below with a link to your favorite #GivingTuesday choice so that other readers can check them out!