‘There’s nothing like competition. You’re going to face it no matter what you do in life’

Jane (Dutch) Trussell says she was born too soon to take advantage of the sports opportunities open to women today. She was a teen-ager right after the Depression and just getting out of college when World War II broke out. But that didn’t stop the Escondido educator from playing on a men’s baseball team during the war, and spending more than 50 years coaching, umpiring and playing softball. The Jane (Dutch) Trussell Field, one of four at Kit Carson Park in Escondido, is named in her honor, along with a school library.

She was interviewed by Times staff writer G. Jeanette Avent and photographed by Robert Faaborg.

One of the kids at school asked me: “What did you do to get a baseball field named for you.” I had to laugh and say, “I guess I was just around a long time.” I was born Oct. 17, 1919.

As far as softball, I’ve done everything there is to be done. I’ve been a coach, a manager, a player, a scorekeeper and an umpire. The only thing I haven’t done is work with the ground crew to get the field ready.

I grew up in San Diego, and I went to Point Loma High School and San Diego State. Neither of my parents were athletically involved when I was growing up, but they would come and watch me play. I may have been influenced by my grandmother though. When I was about 8, I can remember my grandmother, who lived in La Jolla, used to go to a gym class at the recreation center. That was way back in the late 20s. My first gym shorts were a pair of black bloomers she used to wear.

When I was at San Diego State, I took all the physical education classes except modern dance. But all the sports were just intramural. During the time I was into sports, there were so few sports for women and so few opportunities. There was no showcase to show what you could do.

Despite all that, I played for the San Pasqual men’s baseball team for two years. I was a strong enough player; I could compete with them, and they needed me. During World War II, there weren’t as many men around.

Later on, I played third base for a traveling team out of San Diego in the Southern California Women’s Softball League. During the time the group was together, from 1950 to 1964, the team went by various names. They were the Slick Chicks and, in the last year, the Tamale Queens. Our away games were always up in Los Angeles, and we played tournaments in Phoenix and Las Vegas. I really felt like I traveled a lot. By then, my husband and I were living in San Pasqual, and if you had to travel to San Diego 30 years ago, it wasn’t just a jaunt down the freeway.

Baseball was my therapy. I had the satisfaction of being able to play the game and get away from the hustle and bustle and care of being in charge of a school. At San Pasqual Union, I was a teaching principal. When I first started in 1942, it was only a two-teacher school. One teacher taught the first through fourth, and I taught fifth through eighth, and I was principal.

I played with the kids because the school was so small they just needed more people to play. If they played running and tag games or softball or football or basketball, or whatever they did, I did. I can remember we had a basketball team, but by the time everybody played on the team, there wasn’t anybody left to play against.

I coached teams at school, and I played softball outside of school in San Diego and Escondido for over 50 years. Starting in 1965, I had a fast-pitch team that I coached, and when fast pitch for women was phased out, I got involved with women’s slow pitch and umpired at all levels in Escondido.

With umpiring you get the same hassles from all levels. I enjoy doing it because I care whether the game is played well or not, and whether someone who is umpiring knows the rules. You always have some people who have to win regardless. They say it’s fun, but they’re doing it with blood in their eyes. Their attitude is: If I don’t win I’ll slide into you and knock you down the next time. I referee youth soccer now, but I have stipulated that I only want to do the youngest kids, 5 through 8 years old, because I want them to start out learning some good sportsmanship.

My philosophy as far as these youth organizations is, if there was some way to keep the parents away from the games, the kids would have a ball. They’d be really enjoying it, but the adults on the sidelines and coaches put too much pressure on the kids.

I play sports because I want the activity, the competition and the skill from the sport. Women should play sports to be active. The body needs to be doing something. It leads to a better self image being able to accomplish things. There’s nothing like competition. You’re going to face it no matter what you do in life.

In sports, you learn to compete and work under pressure, it keeps you fit, and you can enjoy what you’re doing. So many things people do today to get in shape such as just using the stationary exercise machines aren’t much fun by themselves. With sports, if you get outside and play, you can keep fit and still enjoy yourself.

This fall, I’ll be coaching fifth- and sixth-graders at school (San Pasqual Union), I’ll teach algebra, and I’m in charge of the library the school named after me. I guess I’ll have to retire again some day, but I don’t figure I’m old. I may have some gray hair, and I may not bend over as well as as I used to, but I can still do a lot of things a lot of people can’t do.

As long as I have something to contribute I will continue to do it. Being around young people keeps me young.