Homewood High School’s Diamond Girls program started over 30 years ago when the Homewood High School baseball fields were built in 1994. While many changes have been made over the years, the Diamond Dolls’ main focus is still to support the baseball program.
Bobby Statum, former Homewood varsity baseball coach, introduced the Diamond Girls program to the school. Statum previously played baseball at Mississippi State and they implemented a similar program there. He saw the positive impact the program had on his team and knew it would be an important addition to Homewood.
“They did a little bit of everything, it just made sense,” Statum said.
The Diamond Girls at Homewood completed many different responsibilities. They were trained to keep the stat book in the dugout, complete press box duties, and play the pre-game music. Their help allowed the coaches to stay more engaged with the players and focus on the game.
“They were better than some of us would’ve been,” Statum said. “It was a huge lift off of my coaching staff.”
In the past, the program typically included between 12 and 16 girls, who remained involved throughout their high school careers. Their commitment ensured efficient and accurate information for the coaches to look at during the game. The program also encourages more people to attend and support the baseball team at its games.
Although the program has changed over the years with different coaching staffs, the girls have always been supportive of the players and helped out in various ways.
Jadyn McNeil is the head Diamond Doll this year and oversees scheduling. The girls work the concession stands at the baseball games and are able to earn service hours from doing so. The girls also get the baseball players gifts before their big games and at the beginning and end fo the season.
“We want to do small tokens of appreciation for the players and the team,” McNeil said.
In addition to their game day responsibilities, many of the girls also enjoy the creative process behind the program. The girls design clothing items and help decorate and work on projects for the team.
“It’s less of Diamond Dolls and baseball, but more of putting the two groups together into one big program,” McNeil said.
