License to Thrive

Jenny Fulle – Little League pioneer

With the Little League World Series upon us, few know the story of Jenny Fulle, a pioneer who took her fight from the baseball infield to the courtroom in the mid-1970’s, a battle which would ultimately allow girls to again play in organized Little League baseball.

At the age of 9, Jenny, who had spent much of the time since age 5 playing baseball in the schoolyard with other kids, decided to sign up for Little League.  She loved baseball and wanted to play Little League because, at that time, she felt that “girls were not quite as committed to the game as boys.”  Jenny, like many girls who had made a similar request, was turned away by Little League due to a rule which had been added to its by-laws in1951 which prohibited girls from playing.  Note:  She had originally tried to disguise her gender but Little League registration required a birth certificate.

Frustrated by Little League’s response, in February 1973, Fulle wrote to the most powerful person in the country – President Richard Nixon – to request that he do something about the rule so that she could play during the upcoming season.  Less than a year earlier, Pres. Nixon had signed the Title IX legislation into law, legislation which prohibited sex discrimination in any area of education.  She didn’t receive a response from the President but she did receive a response a few months later from the Dept. of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) who noted that if Little League used public school facilities, then the complaint fell into a Title IX category of sex discrimination for which HEW was in the process of drafting guidelines to address.  They promised to contact Fulle when the guidelines were completed.

After receiving the letter from HEW, Jenny called the local Little League president who again denied her request, noting that Little League had been to court several times regarding the same issue and won every time.  In May 1973, Jenny’s family was contacted by a representative of the National Organization for Women (NOW) who offered to help them fight Little League on the issue.  At the same time, Jenny’s story began to attract media attention.  The Mill Valley Record wrote a story about Jenny which was later picked up by other publications including the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Examiner.

Fulle’s family and NOW took her plea to the City Council.  The vote was close, with the female mayor voting against Jenny, noting that the differences between the sexes should be celebrated”  “Viva la difference,” was the mayor’s infamous quote about her vote.   With the ban still in place, Jenny, now 10, was still not allowed to play.   On the national stage, Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in September 1973 in a tennis match that became known as the “Battle of the Sexes.”  Fulle says she, along with 37 million other Americans, watched the match and said she personally felt “vindication” for continuing her fight.

Seven month later, in April 1974, the ACLU indicated they would sue the city of Mill Valley if girls could not play in Little League during the upcoming summer.  The case ended up in Superior Court where the judge ruled that Little League could not bar Fulle from playing on the team because of her sex and could not take away the team’s charter.  In June 1974, the Little League national office officially announced that the league would begin admitting girls.  Jenny was the only girl to play in the 1974 season with other girls finally being allowed to play in the 1975 season.  Fulle played for one year and then played in the Babe Ruth League for one season after which she played women’s fast pitch softball.  Today girls and young women are allowed to participate in all divisions of Little League.

Fulle is currently Executive Vice President and Executive Producer at Sony Pictures Imageworks.  She has overseen visual effects and animation production for films such as “Speed Racer,” “Hancock” and “Spider Man 2.”  Fulle offers the following advice to girls and young women everywhere: “You don't have to accept the status quo. Barriers are set in place to keep out those who are not passionate enough in their ideals to break through them and bring about change." 

For more information about the Little League organization, including the Little League World Series schedules and scores, go to www.littleleague.org.