CornBelters hire Frontier League’s 1st female coach

Posted on August 11, 2016
Justine Siegal joins the CornBelters with plenty of prior experience, including work with the Oakland Athletics. (Photo courtesy WJBC)
Justine Siegal joins the CornBelters with plenty of prior experience, including work with the Oakland Athletics. (Photo courtesy CornBelters)

By Zach Zook

NORMAL – The Frontier League finally has its first female coach in league history, and she was hired by the Normal CornBelters.

Justine Siegal joins the CornBelters after a stint in the Oakland A’s organization last September in the instructional league where she had various coaching responsibilities. Previously Siegal, who holds a B.A. from St. Olaf College, an M.A. from Kent State in Sports Studies, and a Ph.D. from Springfield College (M.A.) in Sports and Exercise Phsychology, worked with several MLB teams and also held a position with the Brockton Rox, becoming the first on-field female coach in the history of men’s professional baseball.

“We are excited to have Justine as a permanent member of our coaching staff as we make our playoff push,” said team president Steve Malliet. “Her years of baseball knowledge are a perfect complement to Brooks Carey and his staff of great coaches.”

Siegal has also founded a non-profit organization aimed at giving girls the opportunity to play, coach, and lead in baseball, called Baseball For All.

“We have this cultural myth that baseball is for boys and softball is for girls,” Siegal told USA Today in a major story about baseball on Wednesday. “The American consciousness is ready to tackle the question of why, and to offer opportunities for girls and boys to play baseball.”

Siegal will be officially presented to fans and media tomorrow at noon at the CornBelters’ offices, 1000 W. Raab Rd. in Normal, IL.

Zach Zook can be reached at [email protected]

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…