A.J. ANDREWS
Happy International Women’s Day! On this annual celebration of women’s achievements, A.J. Andrews is the perfect athlete to highlight as a true barrier breaking woman. This Pro softball phenom made history in 2016 as the first woman to win the prestigious Rawlings Gold Glove Award. Given to the best defenders on the field, for 59 years it had only been awarded to MLB players until A.J. snagged the trophy… similar to one her infamous diving catches
An outfielder for the National Pro Fastpitch’s Akron Racers, A.J. has always been at the forefront of her sport, known for a fearlessness that no obstacle — fences or even the broken hand she played with for an entire season — can stop. The PBS film Knocking Down The Fences, gives an inside look at what drives this remarkable athlete. In it she declares, “If you hit a ball in the outfield, and it’s anywhere in my vicinity, I’m going to make sure it ends up in my glove.”
A.J.’s aptly titled podcast Barrier Breaking Women has just debuted to coincide with Women’s History Month, and celebrates other female athletes like herself changing the face of sport, literally, with both their gender and the color of their skin. It showcases the “melanated to be celebrated”, and features phenomenal female athletes like debut guest Blake Bolden, the “Jackie Robinson of hockey”, who is the first African American to play in the National Women’s Hockey League, and the first female scout in the NHL with the Los Angeles Kings.
The goal of Barrier Breaking Women is to give a new perspective on what it truly means to be a minority woman in sport, and enlighten the audience with what these ground-breaking female athletes have endured in order to compete with and against the majority. It is available on iTunes, Audible, Google. Be sure to check it out!
