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Club News: The Copper State Summer League Unifies Arizona Travel Ball Programs

Myka Sutherlin, who now pitches for the Univ. of Pacific, is one of many top collegians who will participate in the 23U age division of the Copper State League.

The last two weeks have seen a revolutionary and unparalleled wave of regional club softball summer leagues and events announced across the nation in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Their approach and scope varies greatly, from national events down to local.

Yesterday, Triple Crown Sports announced that its nationally prestigious Colorado 4th of July Tournament would be regionalized with events in California, Colorado, Tennessee and Texas.

The Heart of American Elite Fastpitch League will have teams from 20 states while the Texas FastPitch League will focus solely on Lone Star State competition. Other leagues comprised of South and West Coast teams are expected to be announced within the next week or two.

Similarly, a group of top coaches in Arizona are planning a summer schedule of events in-state to be called the Copper State Summer League and will consist of five programs working together: Arizona Choppers, Arizona Hotshots, Arizona Storm, Firecrackers-Arizona and the Oro Valley Suncats.

Said one coach: “We are hopeful that by working together, we can create an opportunity for our players to play great competition, while allowing college players to compete during their off-season. We believe it is a win-win for the landscape of softball in Arizona, as well as the colleges our former players currently attend.”

According to the coaches assembling the league, “we are still working out details and the unknown of fields and other obstacles out of our control but we feel Arizona is headed in the right direction.”

The league plans to start with 12 teams, with hopes to expand as more fields become available.  The league will also look to live stream as many games as possible.

Each of the five organizations involved will field 18U teams with a new wrinkle added that most of the other recently-announced leagues don’t have—competing 23U teams made up of current college players.

Randy Kaye, who oversees the Firecrackers-Arizona program, held a Zoom meeting last night with former players in the program who will make up his 23U team. He says, “All of these kids played for us at some point and are so excited for this.”

His 23U team consists of players at the collegiate level in all of the Power 5 Conferences. Here’s the list of those on the Firecrackers-Arizona 23U team:

The Copper State League coaches are quick to point out the primary reason for the new league, with one stating that “we really want it to be us collectively doing this for the kids, not us coaches!”

“Now is not the time to make this about any one person or organization,” concludes another coach. “We are all working together on this for our families and players here in Arizona.”

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