The Aussie Spirit now have a full roster of 26 players to compete in the National Pro Fastpitch league in the USA this year.

In a ground-breaking move, Softball Australia and the NPF have arranged for the Aussie Spirit to compete as one of five teams in the NPF.

Aussie Spirit Head Coach Fabian Barlow believes the 48-game schedule will be the ideal preparation for the team ahead of the XVI Women’s Softball World Championship in Chiba, Japan, from August 2-12.

“The NPF is going to be a massive but exciting challenge for the Aussie Spirit team and the national program in general,” Barlow says.

“Having so many of our national program athletes involved is great for the mid to long-term approach of the national program of exposing our best players to international competition and creating more depth in all positions.

“In the short term we are looking for the NPF experience to positively influence our performances at the World Championship in August.

“The challenges of competing against world-class competition daily, training expectations around competition, regular travel and ensuring our recovery is on point will be very tough and at times grinding, but we will have a group there that will embrace that challenge.

“If you want to beat the best sometimes you have to step into their environment to see what makes them so good and learn as much as you can so you can make the necessary adjustments and improvements to becoming more competitive and confident.”

The Spirit will play 48 games in their debut season, which starts on May 19 with the first of 12 games against the Beijing Eagles to open the 2018 NPF season.

The other teams in the league are the Cleveland Comets, Chicago Bandits and the Florida-based USSSA Pride.

The Spirit will be based at Missouri Western University and play “home” games in Missouri and surrounding states.

Taylah Tsitsikronis, who already has two seasons of NPF experience with the Pennsylvania Rebellion and the Chicago Bandits, was the first Aussie Spirit player to sign for 2018. Now 25 others have joined her, taking the roster to the maximum allowed under NPF rules.

The Aussie Spirit’s final NPF game will be against the Cleveland Comets on July 18, after which they will travel to Japan to prepare for the World Championship, which is potentially also a qualifying event for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Aussie Spirit players who have signed to play in the NPF

2018 NPF SCHEDULE

About National Pro Fastpitch

National Pro Fastpitch, an Official Development Partner of Major League Baseball since 2004, provides elite female athletes with an opportunity to pursue a professional career in fastpitch softball beyond their collegiate and amateur success.

The NPF affiliate teams consist of the Aussie Spirit, Beijing Eagles, Chicago Bandits, Cleveland Comets and USSSA Florida Pride for the 2018 season. National Pro Fastpitch players hail from the United States, Australia, Canada and China, among which are the most accomplished and talented athletes in the sport of women’s softball.