Softball News: USA Softball's Loss is NPF's Gain

Guest post by Ken Krause, Life in the Fastpitch Lane blog

For years, top players have split their time between the two. They would play in the NPF until it was time to join up with the National team, then leave for a couple of months or more to play the International competition schedule.

It was a tough choice that definitely hurt the NPF. Unlike Major League Baseball, where young boys often know everyone on the 25-man roster of their favorite teams, many young girls are hard pressed to name any but the most visible names in our sport — the ones most non-players could name too. So having those marquee names was a big draw. When they were gone, the already small attendance would shrink.

Apparently, that wasn't enough for USA Softball. They wanted a longer commitment from the players which would effectively freeze them out of the NPF. Rather than do that, however, those players instead opted no to play for Team USA this summer, and concentrate instead on trying to build the NPF for future generations.

Certainly the elimination of softball from the Olympics played a part in it. Without that high-profile event every four years it's difficult to work up the same enthusiasm for International play — especially after you've done it for a few years.

The ISF Worlds are nice, but they're not the same as the Olympics. The KFC World Cup wasn't exactly the huge draw for teams it was envisioned to be either. So it looks like the best way to make softball visible is to get a stable, profitable professional league going rather than simply dabbling in it.

Those are the published statements anyway. No doubt a lack of funding for Team USA didn't help any either.

Let's face it. Playing at the international level requires a huge commitment and a great deal of sacrifice on the part of the participants. While it is a great honor to represent your country, at the end of the day my bank doesn't take honor as payment and I doubt yours does either. These women had to make a practical decision, and that's what they did.

The NPF doesn't pay much. All but those with good-sized endorsement contracts have to have other jobs. Non-starters make a pittance, and while they play for the love of the game they still have to eat.

The goal, as I understand it, is to change that. The top players want to help the NPF grow to the point where players could at least make a living at it. They probably won't get to MLB, NBA or NFL money, but if their primary job could be softball, with a little fill-in work in the offseason, that would be a start.

The NPF still faces a number of challenges, not the least of which is that they play at the same time as their primary audience — youth softball players. With the changes the youth level has gone through in the past few years, most young players have little time to see an NPF game. They're too busy with practices, scrimmage games and tournaments. Still, you have to start somewhere.

It will be interesting to see if a fully committed set of former National Team players can really make a difference in the NPF's success. Guess it's worth a shot.

Anyway, that's the way I see it.