[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book I)]
[June 27, 2007]
[Pages 812-814]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at Opening Day of 2007 White House Tee-Ball
June 27, 2007

    Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to opening day right here on the South 
Lawn of the White House. Jonas Brothers, thank you guys. It's good 
to see you. Proud you're here. As usual, you did a fantastic job with 
the national anthem. Just give them a hand.
    I'm proud to be here with the commissioner of tee-ball today, two-time Olympic gold medalist, Michele 
Smith. Thanks for coming, Michele. Proud to be with you.
    First, we want to welcome to tee-ball here on the South Lawn the 
Bobcats from

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Allegany County Little League, Cumberland, Maryland. And we want to 
welcome their mighty opponent from Luray, Virginia, the Red Wings. The 
commissioner and I wish the girls all the 
very best. We want to thank the coaches, and, of course, we want to 
thank the parents for coming. We welcome you here--opening day of tee-
ball on the South Lawn.
    I do want to thank the Arizona Wildcat national champs for joining 
us today. Taryne Mowatt, the coach at first 
base; Taryne, thanks for coming. Congratulations, Caitlin Lowe, the third base coach. We've got bench coaches; 
we've got the team. We want to wish you all the very best next year. For 
this would be a three-peat, right? Good luck to you all. Thanks for 
setting such a fine example.
    One reason that we invited the Wildcats to come today to honor these 
girls softball teams is because it's in the Nation's interest to promote 
women athletics. We're a big believer in Title IX programs. We think 
it's good for America that our women are playing sports. And the best 
way to convince women to play sports is to start early. So these champs 
are here to encourage these young girls to play hard, play often, and 
play good. And one day you may be national champs as well. So thanks for 
coming. We're glad you're here.
    I do want to thank Mayor Ralph Dean of 
Luray. I forgot to welcome you, Mr. Mayor. We're proud you're here. 
Thanks for coming. We want to thank Girl Scouts of USA for joining us 
today. Girls, thanks for bearing the colors. We thank you for coming. 
We're proud you're here. Thanks for being Scouts.
    And by the way, we're about to get the first pitch in. And Meredith 
Cripe is going to give me the ball in a 
minute. Meredith, we're really glad you're here. Thanks for coming. It's 
a big day to be here to put out the first pitch on opening day, and 
we're glad we selected you.
    I do want to thank Hannah Storm, the 
announcer today. Hannah, thanks for lending your talent, mother of three 
soon-to-be all-star softball players. We're glad you're here. We want to 
thank the Little League International staff. Thanks for putting on this 
event. Thanks for supporting Little League baseball. Thanks for helping 
our kids understand the blessings of exercise and team sports.
    I do want to thank representatives from the YWCA, the Boys and Girls 
Club of America, and Girls on the Run.
    And finally, after this event, the commissioner and I are going to present each of you all a token of our 
appreciation for you coming, and we're also going to say thanks to Erica 
Minor, who is the youth volunteer. We like to 
honor people who serve their neighbors; love a neighbor like they'd like 
to be loved themselves. And Erica is such a person.
    And now, before we begin the game and before you give me the ball, 
Meredith, we're going to have the Little 
League Pledge. Are you ready? Ready to go? Here we go.

[At this point, the pledge was recited.]

    Play ball.

Note: The President spoke at 3:16 p.m. on the South Lawn at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to entertainers, the Jonas Brothers; 
Meredith Cripe, member, Chantilly, Virginia, Little League Challenger 
League; and Hannah Storm, anchor, CBS News ``The Early Show.''

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