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Young girls learning to love baseball thanks to Zoe Mir

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Inspiring the younger generation: Zoë Mir coaching Violet Heffernan (Photograph by Jessica Gorman)

Zoe Mir, an American teenager who lived in Bermuda for more than a decade is determined to help ensure more girls are becoming involved baseball on the island.

The 14-year-old Mir resided in Bermuda from 2012 until she left for George School, a boarding institution in Newtown, Pennsylvania, last year, but she is using her school breaks to return to the island and impart the knowledge she has gained from playing for Philadelphia Liberty in the largest baseball competition for girls in the US.

Mir has been in Bermuda since last Friday for her spring break, with most of her time spent at Kindley Field, the home of Youth Athletic Organisation Baseball Bermuda and where the teenager started off her baseball career.

Brinkley Mello getting some coaching from Zoë Mir (Photograph by Jessica Gorman)

Last year Mir was chosen as one of the BFA junior captains, a hand-picked group of high school-aged girls who were selected for their vision, drive, and experience to help structure the future of girls baseball.

Mir chose to carry out her BFA junior captains project in Bermuda, where her family still resides, and conducted her first coaching sessions last November, which included students at Somersfield Academy, her former school.

Plans to carry out more coaching sessions during the Christmas break were washed away by the bad weather, but this time around Willa Mir, Zoe’s 8-year-old young sister, Taya Eromin, Brinkley Mello, and Violet Heffernan have all benefited from her one-on-one mentorship.

Zoë Mir coaching her sister Willa and Taya Eromin (Photograph by Jessica Gorman)

“Since I got back I've reached out to all the girls I coached in November,’’ Mir said.

“I gave lessons to three girls, from ages eight to twelve. I was able to give them 45 minutes to an hour each, which was nice and they all said they really enjoyed my lessons.

“I'm so happy that I was able to do these clinics for them and bring up the younger generation of girls in baseball.

“It’s something I wish I had when I was playing here. Just to be able to give it to children who might be going through similar experiences as I did feels like I've come full circle.”

Taya Eromin being coached by Zoë Mir (Photograph by Jessica Gorman)

Mir is thrilled after making it into her school’s baseball team and as was the case when she was in Bermuda, she is the only girl in a team full of boys.

“I'm super excited to be playing on my school team,’’ she said. “Everybody there is super nice and great to play with, and they've been very welcoming.

“I played in a practice match on Wednesday last week. It was really fun being on the baseball field and feels like you've been transported to an entire new world, it’s the best feeling ever.”

The teenager is still part of Philly Girls Baseball, an all-girls team coached by Erin Cooper, which has afforded her additional coaching and playing opportunities.

Zoe Mir with her Bermuda coach Braxton Stowe (Photograph by Jessica Gorman)

“In the summer I'm going to be playing with the Philly Girls. We’re going to the Baseball For All Nationals in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, and I'm super excited to be part of this Philly Girls team.

“I want to play for my high school team and hen I want to play college baseball after that.”

Mir also used her time on the island to get private lessons from Braxton Stowe, a former college baseball player for the Saint Louis University Billikens who was full of praise for the teenager’s efforts to inspire other girls in the sport.

“I think it’s really great for Zoe to give back what she learnt to the other girls,’’ Stowe said.

“She’s someone they can look up to and aspire to get to where she is right now with baseball.

“The biggest improvement since I last saw her was her batting and her bat control. Her ability to not only hit the inside pitch, but we’re working on hitting the outside pitch.

Willa Mir (Photograph by Jessica Gorman)

“She has the ability to go as far as she wants in the sport. It’s a tough sport and it teaches you a lot about life.

“It teaches you how to handle failures and, when you do have success, how to also handle that as well.”

Adam Champion, the YAO Baseball Bermuda president, described Mir as an inspiration for girls involved in the sport on the island.

“Zoe has been a been a huge ambassador for Bermuda baseball,’’ Champion told The Royal Gazette.

“She’s been a great representation of the fact you can achieve by focusing on the sport and taking it beyond Bermuda.

“She’s also a massive inspiration to girls on the island playing baseball. We’re always encouraging more girls to come out and play the sport. As she’s grown older, she’s become an asset for YAO Baseball Bermuda.”

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Published March 26, 2024 at 7:59 am (Updated March 26, 2024 at 7:39 am)

Young girls learning to love baseball thanks to Zoe Mir

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