Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a field that has base lengths of 60 feet, a pitcher's mound that ranges from 35 to 43 feet away from home plate, and a home run fence that is 220–300 feet away from home plate, depending on the type of softball being played. It was invented in 1887 in Chicago, Illinois, United States as an indoor game. The game moves at a faster pace than traditional baseball due to the field being smaller and the bases and the fielders being closer to home plate. There is less time for the base runner to get to first while the opponent fields the ball; yet, the fielder has less time to field the ball while the opponent is running down to first base.
The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women’s athletics and to administer national championships. During its existence, the AIAW and its predecessor, the Division for Girls' and Women's Sports (DGWS), recognized via these championships the teams and individuals who excelled at the highest level of women's collegiate competition.
The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level, primarily competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) for all sports since the 1991–92 season; within the Atlantic Division in any sports split into a divisional format since the 2005–06 season.
College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. College softball is normally played by women at the Intercollegiate level, whereas college baseball is normally played by men.
James Caldwell High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades in West Caldwell, in Essex County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Caldwell-West Caldwell Public Schools, which serves students from both Caldwell and West Caldwell. The school is named after American Revolutionary War figure Reverend James Caldwell. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1928.
Monica Cecilia Abbott is an American professional softball player, former collegiate All-American and silver medal-winning Team USA Olympian. Abbott pitched for the Tennessee Lady Volunteers in college, professionally in the NPF, and in the Japan Softball League. In international competition, she has played for Team USA from 2005 including the national softball team winning a silver medal at the 2008 and 2020 Summer Olympics. Abbott is the NCAA Division I leader in wins, strikeouts, shutouts and innings.
The Connecticut Brakettes is a women's fastpitch softball team based in Stratford, Connecticut. The team has won many state, regional, national, and international tournaments.
USA Softball is the governing body for the United States national softball team. In addition, it oversees more than 150,000 amateur teams nationwide. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
The United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) is a volunteer, sports governing body and a nonprofit organization[2][3] based in Viera, Florida. Originally USSSA stood for United States Slowpitch Softball Association. However, in 1998, USSSA rebranded the name to United States Specialty Sports Association, because it expanded into other sports, including youth girls fastpitch, boys baseball, youth basketball, martial arts and more. USSSA governs 13 sports across the US, Puerto Rico, various US Military bases and Canada, and has a membership of over 3.7 million.In 2017, it generated $25.3 million in revenues.
Joan Joyce is the softball coach at Florida Atlantic University, following a record-setting career as a softball player for the Raybestos Brakettes and the Orange Lionettes. She also had set records on the LPGA Tour as a golfer and on the USA women's national basketball team, and was a player and coach for the Connecticut Clippers volleyball team.
Fastpitch softball, also known as fastpitch or fastball, is a form of softball played by both women and men. While the teams are most often segregated by sex, coed fast-pitch leagues also exist. The International Softball Federation (ISF) is the international governing body of softball. The ISF recognizes three pitching styles: medium pitch, "modified" fast pitch, and slow pitch. Fast pitch is considered the most competitive form of softball. It is the form of softball that was played at the Olympic Games in 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008. The fast pitch style is also used in college softball and international competition.
The Florida Gators softball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of softball. Florida competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Gators play their home games at Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus, and are currently led by head coach Tim Walton. In the twenty-one year history of the Florida Softball program, the team has won two Women's College World Series (WCWS) national championships, eight SEC regular season championships, five SEC tournament championships, and have made nine WCWS appearances.
The National Softball Association (NSA) “is a sporting governing body. The NSA gives softball teams the opportunity to play in qualifying tournaments for State, National - Regional and World Series Tournament play. Also in certain NSA qualifying tournaments, teams are able to win a berth into the NSA Super-World Series. The NSA Super-World series features teams from all over the country. Some municipal park district leagues and corporate leagues follow NSA guidelines to some extent, especially in what bats are not allowed in play, however most competitive leagues require bats with ASA 2004 Certification.
The 2010 NCAA Division 1 Softball Tournament was held from May 20 through June 8, 2010 and is part of the 2010 NCAA Division 1 softball season. The 64 NCAA Division 1 college softball teams were selected out of an eligible 284 teams on May 16, 2010. 30 teams were awarded an automatic bid as champions of their conference, and 34 teams were selected at-large by the NCAA Division 1 Softball Selection Committee. The tournament culminated with eight teams playing in the 2010 Women's College World Series at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. UCLA won their record 11th championship, defeating Arizona in the final.
Sharron Backus is a former softball player and coach. She played as a shortstop and third baseman on seven Amateur Softball Association national championship teams from 1961 to 1975. She served as the head softball coach at UCLA from 1975 to 1997 and led her teams to nine national collegiate softball championships. At the time of her retirement in 1997, she was the winningest college softball coach in the history of the sport. Backus has been inducted into both the National Softball Hall of Fame and the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Bruce Allen Meade is an inductee of both the Independent Softball Association Hall of Fame and the United States Slo-pitch Softball Association Hall of Fame. Meade has also been named to the All-World Tournament Team seven times. During his career, he appeared in nine ISA Super Major World Tournaments and three Senior World Tournaments.
Lauren Elizabeth Anna Haeger is a professional softball pitcher and first baseman with the Dallas Charge of National Pro Fastpitch (NPF). After being named a member of the 2011 MaxPreps Softball All-American Team and earning a gold medal at the III Pan American (18-under) Games in 2010, Haegar played softball at the University of Florida.
The 1983 National Collegiate Women's Slow-pitch Softball Championship was held in Graham, North Carolina, near Raleigh, on May 5–7. This was the first year after the demise of the AIAW, which had conducted the previous two national title tournaments in 1981 and 1982. The Amateur Softball Association stepped in to fill the void by organizing the 1983 tournament and another in 1984. Those four years were the only time that major college slow-pitch teams competed for national collegiate titles, although small NAIA schools and junior colleges also conducted their own slow-pitch championships into the 1990s. The AIAW had lost its struggle with the NCAA, which vanquished the women's collegiate athletic organization after a year of dual crowning of champions in women's sports. Although the NCAA began sponsoring fast-pitch softball in 1982, it opted not to organize slow-pitch.
The 2004 NCAA Division I softball season, play of college softball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level, began in January 2004. The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the 2004 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament and 2004 Women's College World Series. The Women's College World Series, consisting of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA Tournament and held in Oklahoma City at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium, ended on May 31, 2004.
The 2014 NCAA Division I softball season, play of college softball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level, began in February 2014. The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the 2014 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament and 2014 Women's College World Series. The Women's College World Series, consisting of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA Tournament and held in Oklahoma City at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium, ended on June 3, 2014.
