| Sport | Softball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2004 |
| Commissioner | Cheri Kempf |
| Most recent champion(s) | USSSA Pride |
| Official website | National Pro Fastpitch |
National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), formerly the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL), is the only professional women's softball league in the United States. The WPSL was founded in 1997 and folded in 2001. The NPF revived the league in 2004 and currently features four teams: USSSA Pride, Akron Racers, Chicago Bandits, and NPF Diamonds.
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| Team | City | Stadium |
|---|---|---|
| Akron Racers | Akron, Ohio | Firestone Stadium |
| Chicago Bandits | Rosemont, Illinois (Chicago Area) | Rosemont Stadium |
| NPF Diamonds | Nashville, Tennessee | (Traveling Team) |
| USSSA Pride | Kissimmee, Florida | Osceola County Stadium and Champion Stadium |
On Nov. 21, 2002, WPSL announced a rebranding strategy and official name change to National Pro Fastpitch. Major League Baseball partnered with NPF as its Official Development Partner as a continuation of MLB's efforts to connect with female athletes and women in general.
As "Official Development Partner" in 2003 Major League Baseball provided introductions to Major League Baseball Clubs, community partners, broadcast partners and to MLB.com. This landmark relationship is sure to elevate NPF to new levels.
As part of its long-term sales, marketing and promotional campaign, NPF featured an All-Star Tour in 2003. The tour provided each of the league's expansion team owners with tools to lay the groundwork in their marketplace for the official launch of league play in 2004.
In 2004, all the hard work and planning paid off for fans, athletes, coaches, and league officials with the relaunch of the league in six markets: Stockton, California; Tucson, Arizona; Rockford, Illinois; Akron, Ohio; Lowell, Massachusetts; Montclair, New Jersey.
The 2004 season was distinguished by 178 league-wide games, 96 of the best female softball players in the country, the continued support of Major League Baseball as the Official Development Partner of NPF in the category of women's fastpitch softball, NPF playoffs (both best of three series went three games) and the inaugural NPF Championship with the New York/New Jersey Juggernaut capturing the Championship Cowles Cup with a victory over the New England Riptide, fourth place finisher in the regular season.
In December, 2004, owners of the individual National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) teams announced a plan intended to transition operations of National Pro Fastpitch from the founding Cowles family to an operating group consisting of team owners.
The efforts of the new ownership group in 2005 focused on solidifying broadcast agreements locally and nationally, soliciting sponsorship support, and aligning with national softball associations to bring meaningful competition to each team market and various grassroots events across the country. The group continues to recruit new teams and strengthen team ownership in each market.
The 2005 regular season included a total of 144 games and 23 opponents including six NPF teams, plus women’s ASA major teams and international teams such as Canada, Mexico, Russia, Venezuela, China, and Australia. The season concluded the last weekend in August when the Akron Racers beat the Chicago Bandits 5-4 in extra innings to claim the NPF Championship Title.
The Juggernaut joined forces with Telecare to broadcast six games in 2005. Telecare reaches almost a million homes in the Long Island area. Comcast SportsNet Chicago aired seven original broadcasts of Chicago Bandits games in 2005. ESPN2 aired two games during the NPF Championship series. The final game was broadcast on ESPN2 with a very impressive .48 rating.
The Philadelphia Force and the Connecticut Brakettes joined NPF for the 2006 season. The Brakettes, the Akron Racers, the 2005 Regular Season Champions, the Chicago Bandits, the New England Riptide, the Arizona Heat, the Texas Thunder competed in league play during 2006. The New England Riptide defeated the Connecticut Brakettes to become champions.
For the 2007 season, The Texas Thunder moved to Rockford, Illinois to play as the Rockford Thunder. The Connecticut Brakettes left the NPF to return to exclusive amateur status. The Washington Glory was established as a new franchise, picking up many of the former Brakettes' pro players. The Arizona Heat franchise was officially suspended.
Each of the six established NPF teams played an official schedule of 44 games during 2007, including games against non-league opponents that counted in the NPF standings. The Michigan Ice played a more limited schedule as a provisional NPF team. Non-league opponents included Team China, Denso Japan, the Venezuelan National Team and the Stratford Brakettes.
The league moved its playoffs to Kimberly, Wisconsin in a double-elimination format. Washington was the only team in the playoffs to go undefeated and won the championship in the first game on August 26. Rains on August 24 prevented the first day of competition to be played so all Friday games were played Saturday morning/afternoon and the scheduled Saturday games were pushed later into the evening. Monica Abbott and Cat Osterman threw no hitters during the championship weekend.
2008 saw the addition of four more games as different international opponents appeared on the schedule and every team played in every other league city. The international opponents included Canada, Venezuela, Chinese Taipei and Netherlands. Each team played two home series against two of the four international opponents.
The league also hosted Battle of the Bats throughout the 2008 season. At every Saturday night home game, or a selected date if a series is not played on a Saturday night, four players from each team were selected to represent a different bat manufacturer in a home run hitting contest. The contest puts manufacturer against manufacturer and player against player in a competition that concluded in Kimberly, Wisconsin as part of the championship weekend.
The New England Riptide did not play the 2009 season, citing economic reasons [1]. The Washington Glory folded outright and were replaced by the USSSA Pride.
For 2011, the Diamonds became a traveling team, and the Pride will split home games between two new venues.[2]
| year | champion | runner up |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | New York/New Jersey Juggernaut | New England Riptide |
| 2005 | Akron Racers | Chicago Bandits |
| 2006 | New England Riptide | Connecticut Brakettes |
| 2007 | Washington Glory | Rockford Thunder |
| 2008 | Chicago Bandits | Washington Glory |
| 2009 | Rockford Thunder | USSSA Pride |
| 2010 | USSSA Pride | Chicago Bandits |
The NPF traces its origins back to the first professional softball league. Former LPGA Tour member Janie Blaylock, softball legend Joan Joyce, tennis icon Billie Jean King, sports entrepreneur Jim Jorgensen and Dennis Murphy cofounder of the WHA and WTT leagues, founded the International Women's Professional Softball Association (IWPSA) in 1976. The league featured 10 teams in cities across the nation, including Meriden, Connecticut, Chicago, Illinois, Prescott, Arizona, and San Jose, California. In the IWPSA's first season, each team played a 120-game schedule that featured 60 doubleheaders.
The fledgling association survived four seasons before lack of funds, high travel costs, and inadequate facilities ultimately led to its demise.
1979 Champion St. Louis Hummers—Runner-up Connecticut Falcons
1978 Champion Connecticut Falcons —Runner-up St. Louis Hummers
1977 Champion Connecticut Falcons —Runner-up Santa Anna Lionettes
1976 Champion Connecticut Falcons —Runner-up San Jose Sunbirds
In 1982, the National Collegiate Athletic Association began to sanction the Women's College World Series, a move that led to increased participation and exposure for the sport.
Internationally, the USA Softball Women's National Team won back-to-back gold medals at the 1986 ISF Women's World Championship and the 1987 Pan American Games. The college game also benefited from rule changes enacted in 1987 that increased the game's offensive output and ultimately its popularity.
Former Utah State University softball player Jane Cowles and her collegiate coach, John Horan, developed a plan for a women's professional fastpitch softball league. In February 1989, Cowles introduced a blueprint for the league to her parents Sage and John Cowles, Jr., owners of the Cowles Media Company, who agreed to provide financial backing for the endeavor.
Field research and market studies began later that fall and continued to take place into 1993. In January 1994, plans for a barnstorming tour were announced, and 18 months later two teams, the Blaze and the Storm, composed of former collegiate all-stars played exhibition games in cities throughout the Midwest. Eight years of research and planning finally culminated in May 1997, with the Cowles family and title sponsor AT&T Wireless Services launching Women's Pro Fastpitch (WPF). The League began with six teams: Orlando Wahoos, Tampa Bay Firestix, Georgia Pride (later the Akron-based Ohio Pride),[3] Carolina Diamonds, Durham Dragons, and Virginia Roadsters.
| year | champion | runner up |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Orlando Wahoos | Virginia Roadsters |
| 1998 | Orlando Wahoos | Carolina Diamonds |
After completing two seasons as WPF, officials changed the name to the Women's Professional Softball League in 1998. The Orlando Wahoos moved to Akron, Ohio and become the Akron Racers, the only team which still remains in the league today.[3]
The WPSL consisted of four teams located in the Eastern United States in 2000. The world's most talented fastpitch softball players, including former Olympians, collegiate All-Americans, and all-conference selections highlighted the 15-player rosters of the league's four squads. The Akron Racers, Florida Wahoos[n 1], Ohio Pride, and the Tampa Bay FireStix each participated in the WPSL regular season. The Florida Wahoos defeated the Ohio Pride in the championship series held in Springfield, Missouri.
The 2001 "Tour of Fastpitch Champions" allowed the WPSL to focus on expansion. The 2001 tour traveled to 11 cities that were targeted as WPSL expansion candidates. Competition featured games between the WPSL Gold and All-Star teams as well as Canada, the USA National Teams, and local all-star teams. Nine of these games were televised, seven on ESPN2 and two "live" on ESPN, a first for the WPSL. The season was deemed a success with more than three million households witnessing a WPSL game. Numerous cities are also being developed for future ownership in the league.
Play was suspended during the 2002 season to restructure the organization and allow the league additional time to develop and explore new expansion markets. However, a WPSL All-Star team competed in two exhibition games against the Tennessee All-Stars as part of the National Softball Association's A division Eastern World Series in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The WPSL All-Stars also conducted two clinics as part of the weekend activities.
| year | champion | runner up |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Tampa Bay FireStix | Akron Racers |
| 2000 | Florida Wahoos | Ohio Pride |
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