Most athletes chase for their spot on the field, Rylee Albany has hers on two. 

At just 20 years old, Rylee Albany lives a double life. Not only is she a student-athlete on Penn State Abington’s softball team, but she’s also an official ball girl for the Philadelphia Phillies. Two difficult feats.

The road to earning a spot on the Phillies’ ball girl roster is not simple. Applicants start by submitting a detailed application that includes personal statements, softball experience, and a video showcasing their softball skills and personality.

Those who are selected from the initial application process then move on to Zoom interviews. From there, 40 out of approximately 400 applicants are chosen to advance to the final step of the selection process.    

In the final round, the remaining girls are brought to the Phillies’ home stadium, Citizens Bank Park, for an in-person tryout. During this, the girls showcase their fielding and hitting skills while also going through another round of interviews and a Phillies knowledge quiz.  

For Albany, this process took two years.

“My first year, I didn’t make it past the Zoom interview, so I sold 50/50 tickets, which helped me get to know all the ball girls,” Albany shared. “I think it worked out that I didn’t get the position the first time because I was able to take that next year and grow as a person and meet a lot of new people.”  

By her second tryout, Albany was prepared and went in with a lot more confidence.  

“By the second tryout, I pretty much knew all of the current ball girls; it definitely made the process a lot easier,” Albany said.  

Growing up, Albany was always a Phillies fan. Born in Delaware County, she never had much of a choice. Not to mention, she also has family ties to the team.   

“I was born in Delaware County and grew up there until I was eight. Then my family moved to Delaware, but when you are born in Delco, you automatically become and stay a Phillies fan,” Albany said. “My great-grandfather actually played for the Phillies for a short time too, so in my family the Phillies are huge.”  

Throughout high school, Albany often found herself indecisive about the next steps would be for college. While she was unsure of whether she wanted to pursue softball at the collegiate level, there was one idea she couldn’t shake: becoming a Phillies ball girl.  

“I didn’t really know I wanted to play softball at the collegiate level until my junior year of high school. I had taken a little break from travel softball, and that break is what made me realize I wasn’t ready to stop playing,” Albany said. “But throughout high school, I always imagined myself as a ball girl. Then, my freshman year of college, I went to a lot of Phillies games, and that made me realize I really did want to be on that field.”  

As a ball girl, Albany’s role goes beyond just scooping up foul balls. In fact, most of her work is done off the field.  

“Outside of games, we make over 150 appearances. We do anything from players’ charity events to visiting sick kids in the hospital,” Albany explained. “We actually just did an event at the children’s hospital where we attended their Halloween party. We handed out costumes and played with the kids. We do a lot of events with them.”  

Being on the field is special, but for Albany, what happens off the field is what fills her with the most joy.  

“When you work with all these different kids, you just get blown away by their strength. The smiles on their faces when they see us and the Philly Phanatic. Just the way they light up is so special,” Albany said.  

Another event that the Phillies’ ball girls attend regularly is RBI clinics. These clinics are training sessions provided to children at inner city schools during their gym period. Operated by Major League Baseball, these clinics teach children the fundamentals of baseball and softball, including hitting, pitching, and fielding. Helping run these clinics opened Albany’s eyes to her own privileges as a softball player.  

“We work with so many different people, and most of the people we work with, we have no idea what they are going through. When I go to a lot of inner-city clinics, I see that most of these kids didn’t get to grow up around a sport like I did,” Albany said. “I love getting to go and introduce them to a sport because a lot of these kids have difficult stuff going on at home, and being able to give them an outlet is so important.”  

Throughout her time on the field with the Phillies, Albany has had some truly amazing experiences. The one experience she will never forget is being named the defensive player of the game.

“I had no idea that I got defensive player of the game until this guy behind me told me I was on TV,” Albany said. “So many people were coming up to me after the game and were telling me how many great plays I made. Things like that are so special because obviously we see it as ball girls, but you don’t realize that other people see it too.”  

Getting recognized for her skill and hard work is undeniably an amazing feeling, but Albany also saw this achievement as more than that. She saw this as her way of contributing to the growth of females in sports.  

“There are not many women in sports. You rarely see women on TV during a baseball game unless they are fans,” Albany said. “As a ball girl, we get a ton of TV time, and knowing that little girls at home are watching and they see a girl on the field, I think that’s huge.”   

With her position as a ball girl, Albany is hopeful she can show other young girls that they have a place in male-dominated sports.  

“I want them to see that they can be on the field or on TV someday. I want them to see that they can be on the same broadcast as Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber,” Albany said. “It’s all about paving the way for the next generation of girls to believe that they belong there, too.”