The Media Lab has had a softball team since the 1980s—even before there was a Media Lab! The Architecture Machine Group at MIT created a team called the "Shadow Masks," and it became the Media Lab team when the Lab was founded in 1985. In more recent history, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Shadow Masks were led primarily by Media Lab alum Dan Novy. After a hiatus from the MITCSS program during the height of the pandemic, and in the wake of Novy's absence as he transitioned to teaching at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Sarah Beckmann of the Media Lab's Communications group picked up the team and began assessing interest levels during May 2024.
Beckmann was honored and delighted to carry on this long-standing MIT tradition, and had experience playing softball in elementary and high school. But she assured everyone who was interested in playing that no experience was necessary in order to join the team—they had access to equipment (including gloves, bats, softballs, and clipboards for keeping score), fields, and bases—all they needed to bring was a good attitude and willingness to learn!
Huge thanks to the Media Lab Human Resources group for sponsoring the Doodles' participation in the program this year, and to the E14 Fund for funding team T-shirts! Credit for the spectacular T-shirt design goes to steadfast Doodles teammate Eric Schilling of the Lifelong Kindergarten research group. Gratitude also goes out to the MITCSS program organizers, including most notably Nick Nolan, for gathering other MIT teams to play each other in this easy and fun summer activity!