by Vickie Jenkins
Look at this fierce team of four and five-year-old T-ball players. They couldn’t be any cuter! They are all friends and play T-ball in Edmond, Oklahoma. Oh, they are typical little girls that love being together; dancing, playing with dolls, tea parties and especially watching the movie ‘Frozen’ as they wear their princess dresses, being ‘Elsa,’ the lead character in the Disney animated movie.
“It all started when three of the girls took dance and gymnastics together and we thought the girls should try T-ball in the spring. The mom that took the end of the season photo that went viral came up with the name Freeze and thought our little girls would be more interested in trying a new sport if they had a Frozen inspired uniform because all 5-year-olds love Elsa and Anna. I think the photo went viral because the girls looked adorable and it portrayed a message that girls can look cute and yet be strong and independent at the same time,” said Alissa Melton OD,FAAO. (mother of Ella)
The girls were told to put their mean faces on for the picture. A combination of trying to look mean plus wearing their princess dress equals one cute picture of their team, the Freeze. Gregory posted the Frozen themed team photo on Facebook, both on her own profile and other pages like Sports Illustrated Kids, where it received over 8,000 views the first day. Gregory said she and the other team parents are humbled and grateful for the overwhelming response to the picture, which they see as Girl Power.
Although the girls are young, too young to understand what’s happening on the field, Gregory hopes that the photo’s message will resonate with female athletes of any age. “I think a lot of young women see the pictures as empowering, empowering from the sense that you can be cute, sparkly and tough, and that’s okay. Beauty comes from the inside and that’s what we want to teach these girls. That you can do things and be pretty, but what is inside is what matters most,” Gregory adds.
The parents of these cute little girls were surprised when actress Lynda Carter, (Wonder Woman) shared the team photo on her Twitter and Facebook page. Gregory hopes that her photo will show young girls that it is okay to try anything and they don’t have to choose between being a princess or getting dirty. They are not tomboys but they are girls that are willing to try something, and not be afraid to step up to a sport.
Gregory states, “We approached it as a way to combine ‘princesses and red dirt’ because that’s what we have here in Oklahoma. At the time of the photoshoot, the temperature was in the 90’s and it was very humid. The girls were getting hot and thirsty but they did well. The girls even have the hats with the fake Elsa hair down the side but they weren’t allowed to wear them in the games. I guess that would be a little distracting.”
All in all, the picture of the team, the Freeze is darling. What a great opportunity to show others that there is nothing wrong with girls playing sports, even if it they get dirty every now and then. What a great memory this will be for the little girls as they get older, seeing what it was like to be in the spotlight for a bit. Starting T-ball at four-years old? What could be better? Perhaps, a nap after the games and each photo shoot.
