If you wanted to know the root origin of the big smiles present in this photo, you'd have to go back to April 15, 2023 and the University of Southern Maine softball team's Little League Day. 
 
In the spring of 2023, Huskies' head coach Sarah Jamo, motivated by her participation in National Girls and Women in Sport Day events, and conversations with local youth coaches, conceived of a community-based celebration to welcome and honor the girls and young women breaking into the sport of softball.
 
Inviting youth softball teams from around the State of Maine, Huskies' softball hosted more than a dozen teams and hundreds of youth softball players as honored guests during USM's Little East Conference doubleheader versus UMass Dartmouth. 
 
After watching the Huskies earn a 4-0 win over the Corsairs, including a no-hitter from Southern Maine's very own Belle Snyder, youth players were announced onto the field, and greeted by cheers from both spectators and student-athletes alike on the Husky and Corsair sides, and then took part in a ceremonial running of the bases. 
 
With the excitement, energy, and sense of community evident on the faces of both the girls and the collegiate student-athletes, youth players were then invited to seek autographs and meet some of the Huskies they watched compete earlier in the day. 
 
And that brings us to Addie – a fifth grader in the South Portland school system, and one of the Little League players who traveled to the University of Southern Maine in April of last year.
 
At the beginning of her school year, Addie's Connections Homeroom teacher Tom Charltray wanted his students to decorate the classroom with their interests.
 
And, Addie said she wanted a poster of the University of Southern Maine Softball Team.
 
 So, Tom set out to make that happen, and as luck would have it, Tom is a mentor teacher to the University's Teacher Education internship program, and relayed his student's request -  noting that  "Addie went to the game, had a blast, and received an autograph on her sneakers, which she loves" – to Sarah Needleman, the Faculty Cohort Coordinator. 
 
And Sarah knew the perfect person to make that happen: senior Rona Scott (Beverly, Mass.), a three-time All-Little East Conference selection for the Huskies, and a standout student in Teacher Education. 
 
Following some careful planning, an one-of-one poster design by Coach Jamo, and only one minor misdirection on the ride over (quickly saved by a call to coach), Rona and eleven of her teammates stopped by Addie's classroom to deliver her poster in person. 
 
So that's the story of how an enthusiastic Huskies' softball team, the University of Southern Maine Teacher Education program, and a quick trip to South Portland produced big smiles this fall.