National Pro Fastpitch Releases 2009 Schedule
Published on November 26, 2008 under National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) News Release
Denver, CO - National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) League Commissioner Cheri Kempf announced today the schedule for the 2009 season for the League's six affiliate teams.
Each team in the League will play a 50-game regular season schedule with all teams playing each other a minimum of 10 games (5 home and 5 away). Unlike the 2008 season, Olympic teams and foreign national teams will not be a part of the competitive schedule.
The 2009 season will begin on Wednesday, June 3 and will finish the last regular season game on August 16th. Teams will have a week off from NPF competition from June 29 through July 5.
The Chicago Bandits, 2008 regular season Champions and winners of the Cowles Cup Championship Series Trophy, will host the Philadelphia Force during opening week. The Akron Racers will host the Rockford Thunder, the 2008 runner-up Washington Glory host the New England Riptide to round out the first weekend of play.
After winning a silver medal with the USA Softball Team, several Olympians are expected to return to NPF action in 2009, including Monica Abbott (Washington), Jennie Finch (Chicago), and Cat Osterman (Rockford), three of the best softball pitchers in the world.
"The 2009 NPF schedule will highlight the most outstanding athletes in fastpitch softball. The balanced competition of home and away match-ups for all teams will allow fans in every NPF market to be entertained by the extremely talented athletes that compete in the NPF. Most of all, it will expose our accomplished and successful players to thousands of young athletes in all of our markets," stated Commissioner Kempf.
The regular season standings will crown a regular-season champion. The top four teams will earn the right to play in the NPF Championship Series. The Championship Series has been hosted by the Cardinal Youth Softball League in Kimberly, Wisconsin for the past two seasons, but league officials are expected to announce within the next few days the new location of this prestigious event for the 2009 season.
Additional information on each team's schedule can be found by navigating to their individual websites from www.profastpitch.com.
Major League Baseball is the Official Development Partner of National Pro Fastpitch in the category of women's professional fastpitch softball. The partnership, which began in the fall of 2002, is part of Commissioner Selig's Initiative on Women and Baseball, a league-wide effort to help Major League Baseball and the 30 Major League Clubs build stronger relationships with female audiences.
National Pro Fastpitch Stories from November 26, 2008
- NPF and Thunder Release 2009 Season Schedule - Rockford Thunder
- Force release 50-game schedule for 2009 - Philadelphia Force
- National Pro Fastpitch Releases 2009 Schedule - NPF
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