The Power of Girls’ Sports

Story and Photos by Annette Lewis

When I was eleven, my family moved to Idaho. At the time, Salmon had a whopping population of 3,535. This was a huge adjustment for a pre-teen girl coming from the hustle and bustle of California. Salmon had only one stoplight, and people jokingly referred to the town as “thirty years behind” when it came to technology—or to just about anything else.

I was disappointed to learn there wasn’t even a girls’ softball program. Up until then, softball had been more than simply a sport to me: it was a way of life. I missed the camaraderie and the thrill of the game. Among my most cherished memories were the sun-drenched fields, the smell of fresh-cut grass, and the satisfying crack of the bat against the ball.

From an early age, my weekends had been spent with the team, playing tournaments, attending camps—we were a tight-knit group, a second family united by our love of the game. I missed my friends and my favorite sport in this entirely different place. I missed the sisterhood that softball had brought me.

For years, whenever I went by Salmon’s softball fields, which were often empty, I longed for a team to be part of. The fields held a co-ed softball game on rare occasions and they were used by boys in elementary school leagues, but it wasn’t until 2021 that I stumbled upon a Facebook post about Lemhi Express Softball, a brand new opportunity for young girls in our community that had been started up by residents Lindsay Ammar and Nikki Schuler.

The announcement buzzed with excitement, promising a fresh avenue for athletic development and work. Seeing the photos of enthusiastic young girls donning their new uniforms and eager to play stirred a sense of nostalgia and joy in me, even though I couldn’t help but feel a bittersweet twinge, as by then my own hopes of playing softball in the community had long since faded.