{"id":10393,"date":"2025-07-18T08:07:52","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T08:07:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunnewsusa.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/18\/for-one-night-the-congressional-womens-softball-game-sets-aside-partisan-politics-for-a-greater-cause\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T08:07:54","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T08:07:54","slug":"for-one-night-the-congressional-womens-softball-game-sets-aside-partisan-politics-for-a-greater-cause","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunnewsusa.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/18\/for-one-night-the-congressional-womens-softball-game-sets-aside-partisan-politics-for-a-greater-cause\/","title":{"rendered":"For one night, the Congressional Women’s Softball Game sets aside partisan politics for a greater cause"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Washington<\/em> \u2014 Marcella Powell is not a huge softball fan, nor is she a political junkie. So why did she travel more than 1,000 miles from her home in Pensacola, Florida, to Washington, D.C., to take part in Wednesday’s annual Congressional Women’s Softball Game?<\/p>\n

“When this came up, I was like, ‘I really want to do it.’ So, I did it with no hesitation, no effort, no second thoughts,” Powell said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Unlike their male counterparts, whose annual baseball<\/a><\/span> game pits Republicans against Democrats, the congressional women, who begin practicing months in advance, play together with no party affiliation. It’s just “Team Congress” against the “Bad News Babes,” a team that includes members of the media. <\/p>\n

Republican Rep. Kimberlyn King-Hinds, a nonvoting delegate representing the Northern Mariana Islands, has enjoyed the break from partisan politics on the Hill.<\/p>\n

“I’ll be honest, when you get in there (on Capitol Hill), it’s like Team Red or Team Blue, right? And there’s a clear delineated line,” King-Hinds told CBS News. “But here, man, it’s just women coming together, playing for a good cause.”<\/p>\n

That good cause is why Powell is here. The game is played for a charity, the Young Survival Coalition, which helps young adults with breast cancer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“To know me is to know me before cancer. I was just this energetic blossom, this ray of sunshine,” said Powell, who was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 31<\/a>. “When cancer came, it kind of like, hid me. YSC helped me find my joy again.”<\/p>\n

The Young Survival Coalition provided her with resources and connections she couldn’t find anywhere else.<\/p>\n

Powell now organizes monthly meetings with fellow survivors. She says the meetings have become more than just a support group, but “a family.”<\/p>\n

Family was among the reasons King-Hinds wanted to play in the softball game. Her mother and sister are both breast cancer survivors.<\/p>\n

“You know, when they said that’s the cause they were playing for, I was let, ‘Bet, I’m down,'” King-Hinds said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida co-founded the game in 2009 after she was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 41.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I mean it’s just very emotional,” she said of the annual softball game. “It’s so deeply personal. A big part of this is raising awareness about women paying attention to their breast health.”<\/p>\n

Seventeen games later, the event has raised close to $5 million for the Young Survival Coalition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It’s a wonderful feeling that everyone can come together for breast cancer,” Powell said. “I mean, it’s something that can impact anyone.” <\/p>\n

And for the members of Congress, it’s a night to take a break from partisan division and find common ground for a cause.<\/p>\n

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