In the world of softball, there are various kinds of leagues and tournaments where softball players compete against each other on national; and international levels. Below we will look at the types of pro softball leagues that take place and the kinds of softball leagues that happen during such events.

International Pro Softball Leagues You Should Know About

• (1944-1954) – National Girls Baseball League 

Everyone has seen the movie “A League of Their Own,” which made the All American Girls Professional Baseball League famous. As for the National Girls Baseball League, how many of us have heard of it? (NGBL). In 1944, the NGBL was founded by Chicago-area clubs. This pro softball league attracted almost half a million spectators a year by the end of the 1940s and lasted for 11 seasons.

The NGBL, unlike the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, retained the conventional underhand softball throwing style. National Girls Baseball League videographer Adam Chu has created a website devoted to the league’s activities.

• Pro Fastpitch (1997-2019) – National Pro Fastpitch 

The WPSL officially changed its name to the National Pro Fastpitch League (NPF) in November 2002 as part of a rebranding plan (NPF). Because of MLB’s ongoing attempts to establish ties with female athletes and women, NPF was chosen by MLB as its Official Development partner at the time. Because of the league’s success since then, it will continue to operate until 2021.

Unfortunately, after canceling the seasons of 2020 and 2021, the league ceased operations in August of that year. In a statement from the league, “Since the 2020 and 2021 seasons of the softball games were canceled and the preparations of players for the Tokyo Olympics, the league lost all of its earnings and had removed its employees. “

The Women’s Professional Softball League (WPSL), as it was once known, was an American professional softball league for women. For the Cowles Cup, the teams fought hard. Since the demise of the WPSL in 2001, the NPF has brought the league back to life.

The National Professional Fastpitch (NPF) softball league will be discontinued in 2022 in favor of the Women’s Professional Fastpitch (WPF) league.

The Women’s Professional Fastpitch (WPF) pro softball league began its operations in June of 2022 and will last to the present day. USA Softball, USSSA Pride, and Smash It Sports collaborated to create this league. Founded in Oklahoma City, the WPF will be a national organization. 

It is a professional women’s fastpitch softball league in the United States known as WPF (WPF). For its first season, the new league will debut in June 2022 after a promotional effort in 2021. Women’s Professional Fastpitch (WPF) is not affiliated with the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) or the Women’s Pro Softball League (WPSL).

•  Athletes Unlimited Softball (from 2020 until the present)

There are no other softball leagues like Athletes Unlimited Softball. For just five weeks, a single city hosts all of the action. Athletes may gain or lose points depending on their individual and team performance, which changes weekly.

Types of Game Followed In Softball Pro Leagues

• Single-Elimination Leagues

In single-elimination pro softball leagues, simplicity is the most appealing aspect of the competition. Winners proceed to the next round, while losers are eliminated until only one player remains—the tournament winner—in the final round. A single-elimination tournament is an excellent option when there are many participants, a short time, and a limited number of places.

Although only one game (or match) is required in this competition, only about a fourth of the competitors survive after the second round, making it the most competitive.

It’s unlikely that a single-elimination tournament is the best option when you need many participants and have access to many venues and times. Although a single-elimination tournament is the easiest to arrange, the ease of single-elimination is not a key consideration in the other events covered in this guidebook.

Play-offs after a season or a lengthier tournament, such as a split round-robin, are perhaps ideal for the single-elimination event. You would then use the standings at the end of the previous playing session to establish seeding for the single-elimination round.

• Double Elimination Leagues

Unlike a single-elimination competition, which has two flaws, a double-elimination tournament has none. In a single-elimination round, the best entry may be eliminated too early if they have a horrible first game or match or were poorly placed in the single-elimination draw. An entrant in the losing bracket has a chance to participate in the finals because of a loser’s bracket.

In addition to the fact that half of the entrants play only one game, the single-elimination has another problem: (or match). Every team softball is guaranteed at least two games because of the double-elimination tournament structure.

However, due to these advantages, this tournament style is frequently overestimated. It’s not without flaws, however, and there are other options. The second and third-seeded teams have to play many games, especially in the closing stages of the tournament, and it takes a long time to finish the tournament.

In addition, because of the nature of this competition, available space is often not used to its full potential. With nine participants and four sites, the double-elimination competition requires seven rounds to complete. This tournament has the same number of matches as a round-robin double split. However, it lacks the benefits of round-robin competition.

Because of the time constraints, fewer sites, and importance placed on the final rankings, the double-elimination is an excellent choice when just two games are available for each participant.

• Multilevel League

At the highest level, the multi-elimination and single-elimination tournaments are almost identical. The consolation rounds in a multilevel tournament, on the other hand, do not result in a player’s elimination but rather a reduction in the number of levels in which they may compete.

This downward spiral will continue until there are no more competitors. One of the advantages of this strategy is that each team plays about the same amount of matches. In addition, players are more likely to face opponents of a similar skill level in each round.

One or two sites are used in the final rounds of play in single- and double-elimination tournaments. During the multilevel competition, this isn’t the case. Because of this, the multilayer tournament may be completed in about the same time as a single-elimination tournament and in half the time of a double-elimination tournament.

Suppose six venues are available and the event has 13 participants. In that case, it will take four rounds to finish the tournament using the single-elimination or multilayer and eight games to complete the double-elimination. As long as you don’t need to know who came in third or fourth, the multilevel tournament is a good option for tournaments where the number of games played is similar across levels, and the matches are tightly fought.

When removing participants is not desired, an intramural or recreational context and the final rankings are of little concern and may benefit most from this event.

• Round Robin Leagues

Each player or team in round-robin pro softball leagues or tournaments must play each other once. Matches in the round-robin and round-robin split format employ set timetables, which gives teams an advantage in preparation for the tournament and forthcoming games. The final rankings are determined by the cumulative outcomes of all games played; hence seeding has no bearing on the product.

This format works well for a one-day event with a limited number of participants and fast-paced activities (such as table tennis, badminton, or volleyball). This schedule works well for league play when there are more participants and the games take longer to finish. A single round-robin offers the league schedule; if time allows, a repeated round-robin schedule may create a home-and-away schedule.

Round-robin play isn’t appropriate in every case. A round-robin arrangement is troublesome when there are a large number of entrants. With 32 participants, a round-robin event would need 496 games to finish.

This compares to 62 games in a double elimination and 31 games in single elimination. As a result, many games and competitions will fall short of the expectations of all parties involved when the standard of play differs significantly from one another.

• Semi Robin system

In essence, a round-robin event, the semi-round robin eliminates the issue of unequal divisions. For example, in a seven-team baseball tournament, three teams would play in one division and four in the other. Since four teams compete, each team must play one extra game in the division with three teams. This is taken care of by the semi-round robin format.

Final Words

This is all the information you need about pro softball leagues and everything related. This knowledge can help you understand where softball leagues take place and their history. Whether you are a new or veteran softball fan, it is essential that you know about the leagues and when they take place to stay up to date with this sport.