If you really want to know how M.J. Lawson feels about youth sports, all you have to do is read the writing on her yellow T-shirt. It says: “What boys can do, girls can do better.” For the past nine years, this 14-year-old girl has set out to prove the accuracy of that statement. As you scan the baseball field at Esperero Canyon Middle School, you’ll notice one player with softer features and long, blonde hair hidden underneath a baseball cap. That would be M.J., which is short for Mary Jean. The truth be told, M.J. prefers playing with boys. The only time she played on a girl’s team was in tee-ball. “I loved being on a boy’s team and always got a kick out of the competition,” said M.J. From tee-ball, she went on to play for Esperero Canyon and the Baja League. Now she has switched to Impulse Blue, an Arizona Softball Association (ASA) team for girls 14 and younger. That’s the 30-second version of her life. Now here’s the longer version: M.J. was what you’d call the “typical girl” until halfway through kindergarten when she discarded all of her dresses in exchange for T-shirts and pants. From that moment on, M.J. was destined to be a tomboy. “Most of the moms admired me. But then there were those parents and coaches who didn’t like a girl on a boy’s team. At the games I would hear people say, ‘Is that a girl? Yeah, I think it is.’ I used that as momentum to play hard,” she said. While it was difficult for her mother Wendy to hear those comments, Wendy knew she couldn’t change the mind of her strong-willed daughter. “There would be parents who would make comments [about M.J. playing on a boy’s team]. I would tell them that she is independent and can make up her own mind. As long as she can keep up and she’s happy, why not let her play?” said Wendy.
M.J. doesn’t allow adversity to rule her life. When the odds are against her, she uses that as an opportunity to succeed. “The one incident that sticks in my mind was this game in Pony League last spring. The pitcher threw a couple of balls and then this player, who was number twelve, shouted to the pitcher, ‘You can strike her out; she’s only a girl!’” Another player might have cowered down and lost focus, but not M.J. - she fired the ball to right field and got on base. Today, she can’t even remember the player’s name, but she remembers the incident. She has written a motto inside her baseball cap and posted it on her bedroom wall: “Work for #12.” Her baseball hat is covered with sayings that motivate her. Scribbled under the bill is: “It just takes one. In God We Trust.”
Fourteen-year-old Bubba Metz met M.J. on the baseball field about two years ago. Metz, a star baseball player, wasn’t sure what to think of the blonde-haired girl in the outfield. “I first questioned her abilities but then I saw her play ball, and she proved me wrong immediately,” he said. Metz is so fond of M.J. that he nominated her for Tucson Sport Magazine’s Athlete of the Month. “One funny thing I can remember is when we would need to tuck our shirts in we would un-zip our pants and fix our shirts, forgetting about M.J. being a girl on our team. After M.J. left to play softball she would come to our games, and the first time we saw her in girl’s clothes, and not a baseball uniform, we were shocked,” explained former teammate Metz. After hearing what Metz said about her the first time he saw her in girl’s clothing, M.J. laughed and said her former baseball teammates keep asking when she’s going to bring around her softball friends again. Actually, the boys have come to a couple of M.J.’s games. “They treated me like one of the guys and that’s what I wanted to be. The big thing about being on a team is being with the guys and I didn’t want to ruin that for them,” she said.
Last spring, M.J. came to the realization that while playing on a boy’s team was a good idea now, it may not be the best move for her sports career. It was time to decide whether to switch to a girl’s softball team. While it wasn’t an easy decision, it was an obvious one. “I was so devastated when I had to quit. I just felt like Catalina Foothills High School would never let me play [on a boy’s team]. I wanted to switch to softball before high school.” M.J. wrote a lengthy e-mail to her baseball coach, Steve Leninger, to explain her decision. She wrote, “No matter what sport I choose, I seem to gain something great and lose something even greater.” Her coach told her that he would miss her, but for her future it would be best for her to switch sports. Baja League President and former University of Arizona Baseball Coach Jerry Stitt wrote M.J. a letter that said,” I thank you for your terrific attitude and incredible work ethic.” She has the letter posted on her bedroom wall. When M.J. finally realized that she could never play on a boy’s team again, it was more than she could handle. “I cried my eyes out the night before. When the players and parents were told that I was leaving, they all cried.” Oddly enough, her good friend, Bubba Metz, never said a word and walked out of the park that night alone. At 11:30 p.m., Bubba sent an e-mail to M.J. explaining that it had been too difficult for him to say goodbye to her in person – only by using the Internet was he finally able to wish her well and say goodbye.
M.J.’s life on the softball field has had its ups and downs. She plays catcher and second base on Impulse Blue 14U. She has had to adjust to a new team and a new sport. One skill she has yet to master is putting her hair in a ponytail like all the other softball players. During her first game, she struggled for several minutes before one of her teammates came to the rescue. She’s also learned a valuable life lesson about the difference between boys and girls. “Boys are so much easier to deal with. If you do something wrong, they let you know about it and it’s over. Girls are nice to you to your face and then talk behind your back.” Her dad, Alan, admires M.J. for her ability to handle the switch. “She has made a real effort to get along with her softball players. It was extremely important to her to fit in. She has always found it important to be liked by everyone.”
M.J. is going through a metamorphosis - she has switched sports and changed styles. She is now wearing more dresses and more makeup to keep up with her high school friends. Her father Alan has seen the big change and is pleased. The first time he saw her all decked out, he didn’t even recognize her - he walked right past her. “I didn’t realize M.J. was all dressed up. I kept looking and looking, thinking she hadn’t left. I called her cell phone to find out where she was and she answered the phone standing right next to me!” You can bet M.J. has more twists and turns in her life story as she begins her high school career. But you’ll have to stay tuned to find out.
