FastPitch Softball - the Sport of the Future

There are six great teams in America that do not receive much national coverage - Akron Racers, Chicago Bandits, New England Riptide, Philadelphia Force, Rockford Thunder, and Washington Glory. Not familiar with these teams? These are the six teams that make up the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) league - a professional women's fast pitch softball league.

If you have never witnessed a women's (or girls) fast pitch softball game, you don't know what you are missing! Fastpitch softball is comparable to baseball - the rules are similar, the balls are fast, and the action is exciting! Fastpitch softball is becoming more popular each year. However, the sport has been around for a long time.

The NPF has been a long time in coming. The NPF is what was formerly the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL) - which came on the scene in 1997. However, long before that, as far back as 1976, there was the International Women's Professional Softball Association, which was founded by three important women in professional sports - Joan Joyce, a softball legend, Billie Jean King, a tennis legend, and Janie Blaylock, a golf legend. These early professional softball organizations struggled and only lasted a few years because of monetary problems. But, the sport of women's Fastpitch softball continued to grow.

Women's fast pitch softball came back onto the scene in a big way when the NCAA began to sanction the Women's College World Series. This renewed interest in the game and now college teams all over the United States strive to reach this important event. Western colleges have long dominated the Women's College World Series, but eastern colleges are now becoming a bigger part of the scene - with University of Tennessee making an appearance in the finals for the Championship this year. Should Tennessee win the World Series, they will become the first team from the SEC to take home the World Series trophy!