National Pro Fastpitch

National Pro Fastpitch
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2017 National Pro Fastpitch season
Formerly Women's Pro Fastpitch,
Women's Pro Softball League
Sport Softball
Inaugural season 2004
Commissioner Cheri Kempf
No. of teams 6
Country United States United States
Most recent
champion(s)		 Chicago Bandits
Most titles Chicago Bandits (4)
Official website www.profastpitch.com

National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), formerly the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL), is the only professional women's softball league in the United States. NPF currently features six teams: USSSA Pride, Akron Racers, Chicago Bandits, Texas Charge, Houston Scrap Yard Dawgs, and Beijing Shougang Eagles. Each year, the playoff teams battle for the Cowles Cup.

The WPSL was founded in 1997 and folded in 2001; the NPF revived the league in 2004.

Teams

National Pro Fastpitch teams
Team City Stadium
Akron Racers Akron, Ohio Firestone Stadium
Beijing Shougang Eagles Traveling team
Chicago Bandits Rosemont, Illinois (Chicago area) Rosemont Stadium
Scrap Yard Dawgs Conroe, Texas (Houston area) Scrap Yard Sports Complex
Texas Charge San Marcos, Texas Bobcat Softball Stadium
USSSA Pride Viera, Florida Space Coast Stadium

Timeline of NPF teams

Current NPF teams in tan
Former NPF members or defunct teams in blue

Beijing Shougang Eagles Scrap Yard Dawgs Texas Charge USSSA Pride Washington Glory Philadelphia Force Connecticut Brakettes Chicago Bandits California Sunbirds Arizona Heat New England Riptide NY/NJ Juggernaut Pennsylvania Rebellion NY/NJ Comets Texas Thunder Akron Racers

League history

On November 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.

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, the league relaunched with six teams in six markets: California Sunbirds in Stockton, California; Arizona Heat in Tucson, Arizona; Texas Thunder in Houston, Texas; Akron Racers in Akron, Ohio ; New England Riptide in Lowell, Massachusetts; and NY/NJ Juggernaut in 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.

New ownership (2005)

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 Venezuela 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.

In 2008, the league 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.

Contraction and expansion (2009–present)

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 split home games between two new venues.[2] In 2012, the Diamonds relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina, and became the Carolina Diamonds. They played in various venues in North Carolina during the 2012 season.

The league announced that the Pennsylvania Rebellion would be added as an expansion team for the 2014 season, receiving the roster of the recently defunct NY/NJ Comets.[3]

In January 2015, the league announced the Dallas Charge as an expansion team for the 2015 season. The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex-based team will split their home games between the Ballfields at Craig Ranch in McKinney and a ballpark in Arlington.[4]

On October 23, 2015, the NPF announced that the Scrap Yard Dawgs would join the league as an expansion team based in The Woodlands, Texas.[5]

On January 16, 2017, the NPF announced that the ownership of the Pennsylvania Rebellion would be dissolving the team, effective immediately. All Rebellion players under contract were granted free agency.[6]

On May 2, 2017 NPF announced the addition of an expansion team, Beijing Shougang. Its roster is to be populated with members of China women's national softball team and selected American players. For 2017, the home half Beijing's schedule will be played in the home venues of the other NPF teams. Beijing is expected to announce an permanent US home location in the future.[7]


Champions

Cowles Cup Championship results
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
2011 Chicago Bandits USSSA Pride
2012 No champion named
2013 USSSA Pride Chicago Bandits
2014 USSSA Pride Akron Racers
2015 Chicago Bandits USSSA Pride
2016 Chicago Bandits USSSA Pride

History of previous leagues

IWPSA

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 co-founder 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.

Teams

Championships

1976
Champion: Connecticut Falcons
Runner-up: San Jose Sunbirds
1977
Champion: Connecticut Falcons
Runner-up: Santa Anna Lionettes
1978
Champion: Connecticut Falcons
Runner-up: St. Louis Hummers
1979
Champion: Connecticut Falcons
Runner-up: St. Louis Hummers

Following the IWPSA

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.

Women's Professional Softball League

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),[8] Carolina Diamonds, Durham Dragons, and Virginia Roadsters.

WPF Championships

Results[9]
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.[8]

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.

WPSL Championships

Results[9]
Year Champion Runner-up
1999 Tampa Bay FireStix Akron Racers
2000 Florida Wahoos Ohio Pride

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Riptide to Suspend Play for 2009". New England Riptide. 2009-03-06. Retrieved 2009-02-15.
  2. ↑ "NPF Announces 2011 Schedule". ProFastpitch.com. 13 January 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  3. ↑ "NPF Announces New Team in Pennsylvania". profastpitch.com. 19 November 2013. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  4. ↑ "NPF Announces New Team in Texas for the 2015 Season". Nashville, TN: National Pro Fastpitch. January 9, 2015. Retrieved January 9, 2015.
  5. ↑ Kayla Lombardo (23 October 2015). "NPF introduces Houston Scrap Yard Dawgs as league's sixth team". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  6. ↑ "Rebellion Out for 2017". Fastpitch News. 16 January 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  7. ↑ Chez Sievers (2 May 2017). "National Pro Fastpitch Adds Chinese Team To 2017 Season". FloSoftball.com. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  8. 1 2 Digital Ballparks: Firestone Stadium
  9. 1 2 "Steve Dimitry's IWPSA Web Page". Archived from the original on 2009-10-20. Retrieved 2009-10-04.

Notes

  1. ↑ This version was a new expansion team in Plant City, Florida, unrelated to the previous Orlando Wahoos that became the Akron Racers (ref)
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