It’s only because he had no kids at the time that Bill Conroy got the job as softball coach. In 1995, a new rule meant the local Little League program needed to add a girls fast pitch softball league or risk losing its charter.

Conroy, a volunteer with a league in Beverly, said everyone looked at him.

“I was the only one who didn’t have kids and wasn’t married,” Conroy said. “I didn’t know much about softball, but I took a liking to it. Within three years, we became the Beverly Bandits, and within five years, won the national championship. We’ve won nine since then.”

Conroy continues to coach the Bandits, and his decades spent encouraging girls and young women on the field led him to start an annual conference aimed at boosting their confidence off the field too.

Empowering Girls for Life brings together female leaders from a number of industries to speak to girls and answer their questions about careers and life goals.

This year’s virtual event featured, among others, Paralympic athlete and ESPN broadcaster Victoria Arlen; Olympic athlete Ashleigh Johnson; Google Global Science Fair Winner Shree Bose; Cheryl Maletich, a vice president with ComEd; and Emily Calandrelli, an aerospace engineer and host of the show “Emily’s Wonder Lab” on Netflix.

“You can see some of the most influential women speaking from sports, STEM and business, who help empower and encourage these young ladies,” Conroy said.

Also a wrestling coach for the Orland Park Pioneers from 2005 to ’15, Conroy has decades of experience helping to shape the attitudes and work ethic of hundreds of young people. His motivation might stem from his own experience being elevated in life as a young man.

Growing up in Mount Greenwood, Conroy attended St.

Thomas More Catholic School and Bogan High School in Chicago. He worked as a caddie at Beverly Country Club in his teens, a job that led him to receive the Chick Evans Scholarship. The prestigious award provides full funding for college tuition and housing costs.

Conroy went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Applied Sciences from Indiana University Bloomington.

Now an Orland Park resident, Conroy said he wants to help provide similar advantages for his players.

“Part of my job is to help these girls eventually get college educations,” he said. “Every kid in our program has gotten a scholarship. There are so many young ladies out there who need to know they have opportunities.”

Even in modern times, Conroy said he still encounters adults who believe females are better suited for certain stereotypical professions — ones outside the STEM fields. He wants to level the playing field by demonstrating for girls that they can find success in any profession they choose, even those typically dominated by men.

The lack of women in the computer field is something Conroy said affects him on a daily basis. As senior partner of Hi-Tech Solutions, a technical consulting business, he said 95% of job applicants at the company are male.

“I wish it was 50/50,” he said. “Do women find the same interest in computers? Yes, but at an early age, we push them away from that. They are as good, and we have to do a better job at an early age of getting them the opportunities they need to stay interested.”

Conroy said he and his wife, Thora, have taught their 14-year-old daughter, Aubree, she can aspire to any career.

They have also instilled values of gender equity in their son, Trey, who is a college sophomore studying aerospace engineering.

Likewise, the Empowering Girls for Life conference isn’t just for girls. Conroy said men and boys can find inspiration to adjust their outlooks and learn how to empower women in their own lives.

“That’s our ultimate mission, to reach as many people as possible. Not just young women, but people in general,” Conroy said. “Boys and girls should all have the same opportunities, and there should be no prejudices of who goes into math or science.

“If we put everyone on an even plane from the get-go, including parents and teachers, we’ll end up being a better society altogether.”

The Empowering Girls for Life 2021 program wrapped up last week, but speaker sessions remain available for free by registering at empowering girlsforlife.com.

Carole Sharwarko is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.