The only full-time female scout in baseball doesn’t consider herself a trailblazer

Amanda Hopkins was hired as a full time scout for the Mariners in 2015, and is in charge of scouting the Four Corners region of the Southwest. The position made her the first full-time female baseball scout in half a century or more.

Seattle sponsored her time at scout school, and Hopkins grew up around baseball thanks to her dad being part of the sport. He’s currently a special assistant to the GM of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Shortly after her hiring, Amanda revealed to the AP, she didn’t want to turn her role into only a historic breakthrough and wanted to remain focused on the baseball and the job at hand.

Now, as she’s more comfortable and has settled in, she’s opening up more. She explains that most people’s reactions are more shocked than dismissive, asking her how she got into baseball and wondering about her past with the game. Even in this day and age, that could be considered great progress right there.

However, she still doesn’t consider herself a trailblazer, only a scout. Which is one of the most important ways for more female scouts to be hired full-time on other teams. If a female scout is only just a scout, then that will eventually make it not even necessary to put a “groundbreaking” or “trailblazing” qualifier on her role.

Most importantly, and something that everybody could probably stand to remember whether they are breaking gender barriers in their industry or not, she knows that she is never done learning and absorbing the industry.

Hopkins told the AP,

“I have so much to learn still. This is such a profession that takes so many years to fully understand and you’re continually learning. My dad, 40 years into scouting, is still learning something every time he goes to the park. So I definitely think that I just want to be the best area scout I can be right now. But I love the scouting aspect of it. I really think that I want to stay in the scouting side of the game.”

Hopefully she will be learning and growing as a pro baseball scout for years to come. Which, based on her commitment and perspective on the role, seems like a good bet.