STEWART Kelsey

General
THIS IS US
In June 2020 she was among the full squad of 18 Houston Scrap Yard Dawgs players who quit the team following its first National Pro Fastpitch [NPF] match after the league's comeback from the initial COVID-19 lockdown. The entire squad quit the team after a tweet on the Dawgs' official Twitter account was sent by their general manager to US President Donald Trump about players standing for the national anthem. The players formed a new NPF team, called 'This Is Us', with the goal of raising awareness about racial injustice. "I feel like she [the general manager] took my voice away. I felt completely disrespected, and I was hurt and I was angry. As a black softball player I do not stand with a statement like this. This is exactly what we've been trying to change. I'm here to lead the change in softball and in the world." (Twitter profile, 25 Jun 2020; thisisussoftball.com, 01 Oct 2020; yahoo.com, 14 Jun 2020; nytimes.com, 24 Jun 2020; espn.com, 23 Jun 2020; apnews.com, 23 Jun 2020)

COLLEGE CAREER AND NPF DRAFT
She played four seasons for University of Florida [UF] from 2013 to 2016. She finished her collegiate career as UF's all-time leader for hits [257], runs scored, triples [29] and steals [113]. Her .393 career batting average and .458 on-base percentage were the best in UF's history. After leaving college she was selected as the 12th overall pick of the 2016 NPF Draft by the USSA Pride. In 2018 she joined the Scrap Yard Fast Pitch team. (scrapyardfastpitch.com, 08 May 2018; ussapride.com, 01 Jan 2017; floridagators.com, 2017)

MAKING SOFTBALL MORE INCLUSIVE
In 2020 she said she was more passionate than ever about using her voice and position to inspire social change in softball. "As athletes, we have a platform - we reach the masses. If we stay quiet, nothing will change. I noticed pretty early on that there weren't a lot of girls that looked like me playing softball. As black players, we have been told our whole lives to just keep our heads down and don't say anything, just ignore it. We can't let those things slide any longer. I really do believe this is one of my callings in life - to help change the sport of softball and make sure it is more inclusive for future generations. I think it's our job to make sure that softball changes by changing it at the pro level, then hopefully it's going to trickle down. I hope someone can be like, 'Wow, someone that looks like me can play at that level.' Maybe that will inspire someone to pick up a bat. This is about the bigger picture and I'm super passionate about this right now, more than ever." (justwomenssports.com, 13 Jul 2020; kwch.com, 01 Jul 2020; kansas.com, 07 Jul 2020)

STEWIE'S LEAGUE
In 2020 she started a non-profit travel league, Stewie's League, in order to provide opportunities for children who otherwise can't afford to play softball. She hopes to incorporate scholarships for players to buy equipment and other necessities to continue their softball journey. "My goal is to expand their minds to realise that you're not stuck in Wichita [KS]. You can grow outside of this place and you can go to lots of places. And on top of that just being very open with their minds and their hearts to everything that's going on." She also offers coaching and softball lessons, both in person and virtually. (kelseystewart7.com, 24 May 2020; auprosports.com, 10 Aug 2020)