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Over the last several months, six Fastpitch Leagues have been announced and established—those currently running, or in plans to begin soon, include the:
It was officially announced today that these Leagues will align nationally under the direction of former USSSA National Director Jami Lobpries and will be called The Alliance Fastpitch.
Here is an introductory video produced by the new organization to explain its multi-level missions:
Lobpries and several leaders of the Leagues invited Extra Inning Softball’s Brentt Eads to a Zoom meeting to discuss the newly announced organization. That video can be seen below.
“The Alliance Fastpitch is a member-based entity that will serve three purposes,” Lobpries, an All-Big 12 player at Texas A&M, explained. “One, it will align the member leagues; two, it will connect generations of athletes, and three, it will help bring unity to our game.”
In the Zoom call, the new national leader and several top club coaches including Tony Rico (Firecrackers), Mike Stith (OC Batbusters), Jeremy Higdon (Fury Platinum) and Ryan Taylor (Aces Fastpitch) explained that “coaches, industry leaders, and former players have come together to form The Alliance for the common purpose for putting the fastpitch athlete first and driving value to the player and player experience.”
Some of the Leagues are already up and running including the Texas FastPitch League which was the first one established. The plan, the coaches say, is to have the existing and future League events, which are sanctioned with a point system, fed into a National Championship where teams will have to “play in” each year.
But that’s not the primary reason for The Alliance, according to Lobpries.
“The Alliance brings together the fastpitch community in a way that drives the fastpitch athlete and game forward,” she added.
She explained that the new organized infrastructure will allow for four things:
- enhanced and meaningful competition across the country,
- athlete development opportunities on and off the field,
- identification of top athletes in each age division,
- collaboration among industry leaders.
One point of emphasis for The Alliance will be luminaries and legends of the game, including former Olympian and college greats like Natasha Watley, who will be working with the younger generations of players.
For more information, go to The Alliance Fastpitch website (thealliancefastpitch.com) by clicking HERE
The full video of the Zoom conference call held this week covers the following points:
- what The Alliance will attempt to do for the sport,
- how it’s different than other organizations and governing bodies currently in existence, how it will exist with existing events,
- how it will add value to individual player experiences,
- how youth coaches can benefit from involvement with The Alliance…
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