Slo-pitch, skirts and dancing: First season for ‘Dirt in the Skirt’ rec league

League founder Jenny Hastie says dresses are mandatory for the 98 athletes playing in the league. (Clair Lawrence)

They say imitation is the best form of flattery.

For a very unique Midhurst-based recreation slo-pitch league, it’s less about imitation and more so about paying homage.

Jenny Hastie is a recreational slo-pitch player who had an idea in 2024 for a small, ladies only one day charity tournament.

“We had no idea how it was going to be received,” Hastie told CTV News that she put the call out on social media, reaching out to family and friends, asking women if they would join in for the charity slo-pitch game.

To her surprise, 12 teams signed up to play in a tournament she dubbed Dirt in the Skirt.

The next year she did it again and the tournament was even more popular, doubling up on the number of teams that wanted in.

“I just really noticed how much fun the ladies had, we had DJs and walk up songs and a lot of dancing,” Hastie said.

“And I just decided to start a new league,” she added.

On May 12, the Dirt in the Skirt slo-pitch league played its inaugural game.

RELATED: Dirt in the skirt: Simcoe’s own ladies-only slo-pitch league

Hastie says the name pays homage to the 1940s All American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). A league in which the athletes wore dresses with skirts at the bottom.

The name also pays homage to the 1992 movie, A League of Their Own, a fictionalized comedy-drama movie based on the AAGPBL.

The line “dirt in the skirt” is famously shouted by one of the characters in the movie when encouraging her teammate to slide to third base.

The recreational league has six teams with over 90 total athletes on its roster of varying skill levels.

Hastie admits that the team gets some pushback online from baseball purists, but she says the league’s target audience, for now, is not hardcore sports fans.

The league is intentionally a bit abstract by design with some unique rules.

The first and most important are the mandatory dresses.

“It is mandatory, the name is Dirt in the Skirt,” she said, laughing.

“Women are allowed to wear pants, shorts, long sleeves underneath, whatever they’re comfortable in, but the dresses are mandatory again, just to pay tribute to the AAGPBL ladies,” she said.

Although the teams are all based out of Simcoe, they use names inspired by some of the original teams in the AAGPBL.

The South Bend Blue Sox, the Rockford Peaches and the Minneapolis Millerettes are all named after the original teams from the 1940s. Meanwhile, the Barrie Bells, Winnipeg Wildflowers and Calgary Gals are all custom team names.

Not so much a hard rule but a regular practice, the league is famous among its players for having impromptu dance-offs at any time during the games.

Hastie says the dancing is inspired by Banana Ball.

Banana Ball is a professional baseball league based in the United States that has an entertainment focus.

“Everybody is posting online, making TikToks, doing dances,” Hastie said when describing the vibe at a Dirt in the Skirt game.

“It’s unlike any league I’ve ever played in before,” she added.

She says the focus of the league, outside of providing a good time for the athletes, is community and charity.

This year, in addition to its regular season, the league plans to host its classic tournament in Barrie and another in Niagara Falls later in the summer.

Hastie says the league is also getting national attention, as more tournaments have been set up outside of Ontario.

She adds that a more serious ladies’ baseball league is potentially in the works, but that’s a focus for later down the line.

For now, the games are free to watch at the Tree Nursery Sports Park in Springwater on Tuesdays in the evening.

“There are a lot of talented and higher level players, but for now its just about getting out, getting active and being with your ladies,” Hastie said.

The regular season for the Dirt in the Skirt Slo-Pitch game ends in September, at which point playoffs will begin.