January 8, 2025 • 35 mins
Our “New Year, New Leagues” series continues! Pitching legend and GM of the AUSL Volts Cat Osterman joins Sarah to chat all things Athletes Unlimited Softball League. They talk how this league will differ from previous AU softball formats, its groundbreaking year-round insurance policy for athletes, and the stars, stakes, stats and stories to look out for.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to good Game with Sarah Spain, where we just
woke up in a cold sweat after dreaming we had
to try to hit a cat Asterman fastball. It's Wednesday,
January eighth, and today we continue our New Year, New
Leagues series of shows, serving up everything you need to
know about the new professional women's leagues, kicking off, tipping off,
first pitching, and first serving their way into our hearts
(00:20):
in twenty twenty five. Today's League Athletes Unlimited Softball AKAAUSLF.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
A new professional women's softball league.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
From the folks at Athletes Unlimited, this time playing in
the traditional team softball format. Softball Legend and GM of
the AUSL volts Cat Austerman joins the show to give
us the stakes, stars, stories.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
And stats that we need to be ready for first pitch.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
It's all coming up right after this, All right sliceys,
Welcome back to New Year, New Leagues.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Today AUSL.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Joining us to tell us everything we need to know
about AUSL. She's an Olympic gold medalist and two time
Olympic silver medallist, a collegiate, four time All American, and
four time Big twelve Pitcher of the Year. She ended
her career at the University of Texas with school pitching
records and wins, strikeouts, era, no hitters, perfect games, whip innings,
pitch shutout, strikeout ratio, and opponent's batting average, and still
(01:23):
leads in all those categories. Still leads in most of
those categories for the Big Twelve as well. The first
overall pick in the National Pro Fast Pitch League, she
earned four NFP titles, was named Championship MVP three times,
and was a six time professional All Star. She was
the champion of Athletes Unlimited's inaugural softball season in twenty
twenty and finished her professional career with Athletes Unlimited in
twenty twenty one before joining the AU Advisory Board in
(01:45):
twenty twenty three. She's the only person to win USA
Softball's National Player of the Year honors three times, and
she's an advisor and GM in the new Athletes Unlimited
Softball League.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
It's Kat Austerman. What's up, Cat?
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Hey so excited to join you.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
I know we've been flirting with each other on social
media for years, never actually meeting in person yet, but
we finally get to actually talk, which is amazing.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
One of these days I'm in Chicago enough. I don't
know how we haven't crossed path.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
We need to make it happen.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
By the way, I reserve the right for any of
that bio to be slightly off based on the fact
that I could have spent years talking about your accomplishments
and the fact that you still hold all those records
all these years later. You just never know when someone
pops up and breaks something. But I'm pretty confident about
all of that. And it's just like so impressive reading
about especially the people who become the names that we
(02:35):
all know. There's a couple softball players that are just
the three or four that everybody knows. You have so
many accomplishments, so many records. When you look back at
your playing career, is there something that stands out that
you're most proud of?
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Well, you know, I think my college career, just because
I went a little bit against the green At the time,
the Pack was the premiere conference. You know, Arizona Ucla
were winning titles going back and forth, and I was
recruited by both those schools, but I really wanted to
be different and tried to beat the big dogs, and
so I stayed home at Texas and part of that
was being closer to my family. But I think my
(03:09):
college career really I say all the time, if I
had chosen somewhere else, I don't know if I would
have catapulted successfully as quickly as I did. At Texas.
I got thrown in the fire. There was only one
returning picture. Everywhere else had a couple different returning pictures,
and all Americans at that and you know, who knows.
If I'd gone there, maybe I still would have been
(03:31):
a one or two or you never know. But I
just saw a clear path at Texas for a chance
for me to to take that role and it worked out.
But really proud because I mean it was hard. Obviously,
you spend four years and put blood, sweat and tears
into a jersey. But it was really cool the first
time we got to go the World Series, the first
World Series game. But then I think the really fun
(03:52):
part was to see how fans turned out by the
end of my career and just finishing Super Regionals there
and beyond left field there's a street, but they allowed
people to park on the curb, and come postseason we
had people put it parking their boats there, big old
buses with like you know, built out build outs on top,
so it was a party out in left field. Occasionally
(04:13):
a fire truck from one of the fire stations nearby
would park out there and all the firemen would sit
up top until they got a.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Call and amazing.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
So it was really cool just to see the evolution.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
You know, you changed a program a while ago.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Yeah, yeah, it was really fun.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Yeah, that's really cool.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
You also had some cool pop culture moments at opportunities.
You were the first softball player on the cover of
Sports Illustrated. You appeared in the ESPN Body Issue. Is
there a particular opportunity or cool experience that stands out
to you from those years when you were kind of everywhere?
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Well, I will tell you the Body Issue. I know
they aired like an overview of the I think ten
years they had done it, and they say that someone
cried on the very first shoot. That was me. I
thought it was the coolest thing until we got ready
to go and then all of a sudden, like I
just panicked. But it's it was cool to be part
of and be asked to be part of that. But
I really think the twenty fourteen being on the cover
(05:06):
of Sports Illustrated was the coolest experience. One I was young,
but two they told us, you know, we beat out
Michael Phelps I think for that cover, and for all
of us at that point, it was like that was
the biggest thing. But just to have our team honored
in that way, because you know, you do you you
always wonder, you know, who's going to be on that
cover and who's going to be on the Wheaties box
and all of that, and so that that part pop
(05:30):
culture and I think most of us still have that,
uh that cover frame somewhere, and it's just it was
one of the best experiences for our team.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
That's really cool for those that aren't super familiar with softball.
Can you set the stage for what the post college
softball landscape has kind of looked like for the last
twenty years or so?
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Oh so, it's been really up and down. The NPF
was going for a while. It had been in operation
for I want to say, probably eight or ten years
before I shouldn't say ten, probably eight before I played there.
There were other entities of it, but every time it
just kind of got rebranded. So I was drafted into
the NPF straight out of college. I did not play
(06:11):
my first year, but then ended up joining the year
after I graduated. Played ten years there and that continued
on really until about two years ago, and then MPF
folded and now the WPF has taken its place. But
at the same time, right around COVID is when Athletes
Unlimited kind of jumped in and had this different idea
(06:34):
for professional sports. And I will admit without COVID, I
probably wouldn't have played it because the first time someone
explains it to you, you're like, oh, what's that. But
then we all got into that environment and absolutely loved it.
And so Athletes Unlimited has been going for the last
five years. And then at the same time there have
been various different other professional opportunities. A couple of teams
(06:58):
on the East Coast have partnered up and they run
a league during the summer. You know, there's a there's
an independent team out of Oklahoma City that runs. It's
just been very inconsistent, and you know, even when the
WPF or the NPF, excuse me, ran there were teams
that were treated truly professional, and then there were teams that,
you know, one team's getting wined and dying at a
(07:20):
steakhouse and the others eating McDonald's or ones, you know,
on a great flight and the other is on the
cheapest flight, which is making them on a red eye,
or they're getting in barely in time to change and
run to the field. You know, there were just so
many discrepancies of how people were being treated in the
professional environment, and so it kind of it was chaos
(07:40):
for a little while. You know, there were I was
in the NPF where I think at one point we
had eight to six to four to five, like the
teams just and the team I was on ended up
relocating from Rockford to Tennessee, to Florida back to Tennessee
and then they got renamed, renamed and rebranded and bought
out in it up in Pennsylvania somewhere. So it was just,
(08:03):
you know, we've had people try, and you know, the
NPF was there and a lot of us from the
national team played in it for a good chunk of time,
but just being able to get it to actually go
has been a challenge.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
I mentioned that you were and still are one of
the top names in softball major name recognition. How have
you tried to parlay that unique popularity and people knowing
you to help the sport of softball over the years,
and what do you think is the biggest barrier to
the sport being able to at the pro level try
to reach the same support, ratings and attendance of the
massive success of the women's College World Series.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Yeah. Well, you know, I jumped into coaching right out
of college. So I college coached for twelve years and
tried to, you know, wherever I was obviously influenced girls
to have it to think about the opportunity of playing professionally,
and you know, quick full circle story. I actually got
to retire the same year as one of my pitchers
that I coached at Texas State because she played two
(08:58):
years professionally. And when I had scot her and said, hey,
have you ever thought about playing professional? When I thought
she had the tools to do it, she was like,
are you crazy? No, I'm here for four years to
get out. So, you know, uh, it was fun to
be in that. And then when once I stepped down
from college coaching and I was actually you know, honored
to be part of athletes and womened first year just
(09:20):
seeing what John and Jonathan do. I when I retired,
I told him I want to do anything and everything,
you know, I can to help you guys make this go,
and ended up being on the advisory board and just
trying to keep people knowing what's going on and whether
it's just sharing on social media, doing appearances, going up
there once a season to you know, pre game draft,
(09:40):
pre draft shows, whatever it is, trying to jump in
and continue to help put the professional, you know, game
in everyone's eyes. And you know, we have to be
able to get brand recognition. And I think honestly, with
Athletes a Limited dropping the AUSL when we are, they
already have the brand recognition from us playing in COVID.
(10:02):
I mean we benefited that literally nothing else was on
during COVID. I mean I laugh. People were like, oh,
you were on the ticker. I was like, that's how
slow sports was. It's on the ticker that I resigned
my job as a college coach, and a couple of
weeks later, like on the ticker that I signed with
Athletes Unlimited. I'm like, we don't have anything going on,
so I'll take my moment. But you know, it was
(10:23):
the blessing for us, especially in softball that we got
so many fans during that first season, and so it's
it's the brand recognition, and I think it's better because
athletes and women that has a following now and now
we can say, hey, we have these teams. Yeah, and
let's push that because that is what it is. It's
it's when you start brand new and people don't know
who you are. That's the hardest part. And I've learned
(10:44):
that now my husband and I opened the business and
it's like, man, you think social media is just going
to like we're blast everything out for you, and it
doesn't happen that way. And so I think having the
brand recognition really actually might help this entity be able
to connect with those college fans because college softball is huge.
I mean, I still go to games at Texas. I've
(11:05):
been welcomed up in Norman. As much as that sounds sacrilegious,
I said, I wanted to see the stadium and the
fans were like, come on up, we'd love to have you.
And yeah, you know, they just they they love the
history of it, they love what's coming of it, and
they we just have to get them to love their
athletes post college as well. And you know that's, like
you said, that's been the trick. But I think the
(11:27):
brand recognition of Athletes Unlimited already established is going to
help that.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Yeah, so you mentioned the previous and still will be running.
AU softball has individual and team points earned per game,
and then in the end, one individual player wins it all.
That was you the inaugural champion of Athletes Unlimited Softball
back in twenty twenty. What did you take from your
experience that you mentioned made you want to join as
(11:51):
an advisor and also that you brought to your role
once you got there and said, this is what stood
out to me from playing, this is what was great,
this is what needs to be worked.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
One part of it was John and Jonathan. John Patrick
co Hof was more of the point person that we
saw a lot in season one, and I remember he
was coming into town and he had just text and
was like, hey, you know, I know you've been in
pro softful for a long time. I love to say
I'm in chat and he just wanted my perspective on
where it was. You know, how was season one going,
what could be better? And obviously during COVID there were
(12:22):
so many restrictions, it was hard to say what was
better because we we had our own we had our
own bubble there too, and so but I just remember
him wanting to have conversation and I was like, Okay,
they're in this for the long haul and they truly
want the product their athlete to be happy and to
have what they need. And then the people they hire
(12:43):
from content team to you know, are the people who
are managing our equipment, our draft, you know, everyone that
helps produce the draft and all of that. It's just
everyone was really truly invested and it wasn't just a job.
There were times where I think people wanted to get
into sport and they found a job in the in
pro softball, but it was just a job in the
stepping stone, and they found people who truly were invested
(13:06):
in women's sports, and that was it stood out because
NAM want to be around people that are invested in you,
in what you're doing, and not just there to you know,
check the box of you know, I got this this
and this done today.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
And so AU has always felt to me like they
really listened to a lot of what people say they
want out of professional women's sports and they give it,
whether that's maternal care to athlete opinions and voices being
heard on everything from uniforms to everything else. So it
feels like they're doing it right, and it's just about
continuing to get the word out about that. So we
just talked about the previous AU softball format. Twenty twenty
(13:41):
five is going to see a new Athlete's Unlimited Softball league,
more traditional kind, starting as a touring property featuring games
in six to eight different cities, and then becoming a
city based league beginning in twenty twenty six. We're going
to take a little break here and when we come back,
we're going to get a full AUSL one oh one
from Cat Asterman.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
It's coming up next to.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
We're back talking with Kat Osterman, and I mentioned the
transition from the old individual league to the new more
traditional league. Why the change, and I think you mentioned
they're both going to exist moving forward.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
Yeah, so fans and athletes both were kind of asking
for the traditional league. Originally AU had put AUX, which
was an extra like three week shortened season as a
tune up for the actual championship season, and instead we're
going to implement the traditional season during that time extended
a little bit. But both fans, you know, a lot
(14:41):
of fans and like, as we said, there's a history
of college softball fans that have watched, those that did
tune in there, a lot of them didn't like kind
of I call it the fantasy model. They didn't like
that points model, and they've been asking for a team model.
And then I think athletes too. Sometimes when you get
in the points model, if you get down towards the bottom,
you're not given opportunities to get yourself out of that spot.
(15:05):
You just end up being you know, the bench person
for a couple of weeks or maybe get one or
two at bats, and it doesn't really allow you to
move up. And so now with the traditional model, it
gives athletes a chance to be able to play every
week and work themselves through slumps and things like that.
But yeah, so they went ahead and listened to two
fans and athletes and we're going to do the six
(15:26):
week traditional model, and we're all really excited about it.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
So let's do AUSL one oh one here. Yet, you've
told us how we arrived at this, Let's start with
what it's going to look like with teams. How many
of them are there and who are they?
Speaker 3 (15:40):
Yeah, so we have four teams. I am in charge
of the Volts and my head coach is Kelly Creutchman,
who's also a decorated Olympian and professional. We have the Talents,
whose GM is actually the Goats of All Goats, Lisa Fernandez.
Their head coach is Howard Dobson, who's a longtime college
coach and just recently got out of a college game,
but has also been in the USA Softball Arena as
(16:03):
a coach. We have The Blaze, which is GM'd by
Danis Sorenson, one of the smartest people in our game.
She played at Stanford, a little bit older than I am.
And her head coach is Alissa Gohler, who is a
former professional player as well. And then, last but not least,
the Bandits are recreated and Stacy Nuveman, who was their
(16:23):
head coach their last few years in the NPF, is
going to head coach that and her GM is Jenny
Dalton Hill, another big name from actually before even like
the four team stuff. She played at Arizona. So those
four teams are going to kick off the inaugural year,
and the hope is that we add two more in
here too.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
There is something for everyone with these names and logos.
The Blaze is super bright, kind of like nineties pop.
The talents have this incredible crest that looks like a
peregrine falcon sort of formed into a crush shape.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
The Bandits.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Of course, I'm a little bit biased being a Chicago
gallon having on to see the Chicago Bandits on many occasions.
The way they incorporate the colors of the Chicago flag
and the star kind.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Of ties to that. But the Volts have the best colors.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
In my opinion, I am really into that sort of
tennis ball green and with the purple.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
I think it's going to pop.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
So people can find their merch, they can find the team,
the players, the logos that they're drawn to. You mentioned
the gms and coaches leading the teams. So much experience,
so much history there in softball. What about some of
the players. I know there's still a lot of signings
yet to happen, but who are some of the players
we'll be watching in this new league.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
Yeah, anyone you've seen in a US Championship season unless
they retired, are eligible, And a lot of contracts were
extended to majority of the returning players. Right now, we
have Bubba Nichols, who.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Greatest name in sports in my opinion, Bubba Nichols. It's
so good.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Yes, she got married and I think she might have
put her married name on her jersey and we were like, dude,
you have to just stick with bubb the Nichols. Yes,
it is what it is. Carly Hoover, who was an
amazing picture at LSU, is actually coming back Stateside to
play professionally. She's been playing over in Japan where she's
dominated for a few years. And then we have you know,
(18:10):
not signed yet but have been part of au You know,
you have amand Lorenz who's the most recent champion, Rachel Garcia,
all of those that we're trying to we're waiting to
see when they sign, and we'll hopefully be part of
the first allocation draft.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Do you have any idea if any of the players
who recently retired might be changing their minds to come
back now that there's this new AUSL to join.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
I did see Haley mcclinney recently and she was like,
if you can promise me this tier, I might I
might retire for a couple of years. So I do
know there are some that, like we were all wishing
for this model to come, and some of them, I
don't know, give them a year, they might unresign.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Yeah, they might catch sight of what's going on over
there and decide they want back in something you did.
Of course, you had a couple retirements and returns. So
as a GM, when you're looking at these players that
you want to add to this new league, what's your
role in signing them and scouting them?
Speaker 3 (19:04):
So I'm gonna work with Kelly obviously on creating a
roster that we feel like is going to be talented
but at the same time passionate, energetic. So it's about,
you know, the culture, and I think the plus side
I have is that I've played with a lot of
these athletes, so I know who they are on and
off the field. I know you know their character and
how they how they play the game, and if they're
(19:25):
going to match the other pieces that we put into
place before, you know, in rounds, before we draft certain people,
and then after that, it's about making sure that everything
is running smoothly. I'm gonna, you know, I have to
I shouldn't say have to. I will be in market
for most of it doing double duty because I also
coach an eighteen new team, so I'll be going back
and forth in a lot of softball during that time,
(19:47):
but you know, be in market, make sure the travel
is taken care of, make sure that you know, we
know what hotel we're going to, where where food's coming from,
like all those things with the places that we're traveling
to and so and then eventually once season's over. I
think the cool part that they want us to offer is,
you know, a player development plan. So when you have
(20:07):
rookies that maybe didn't play, could be on the bubble
if they get a contract, here's what we need to
see from you in the off season. You know, we
need to see you improve in these areas, and we're
going to give them resources to be able to do
those player development plans. And that's something that we've never
had in our sport because it's always just go figure
out how to be a professional athlete on your own.
And so being able to put together player development plans.
(20:30):
It does fall on my shoulders to release players if
we think, you know, we need to move on from them.
And so that might be the tough part, especially if
they're people I've played with. But I'm I'm known to
be a very honest communicator. So while it might be
a little bit tough, on my heart strings. I think
I'll be able to do it, but really excited just
because we get to add some pieces, you know, especially
(20:52):
for the player development overall. That is huge for our sport.
And as you said, you know, AU has always done
childcare and maternity leave and all of that really well,
and so the childcare policy is huge. An athlete can
have their child travel with them and AU pays for it,
or they get a stipend and that can go to
(21:12):
whoever's helping watch them back home.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Awesome.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Yeah, so it's about coordinating that too, you know, making
sure that families are taken care of and all of
that as we travel. And it's not just only on
the field stuff.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
You mentioned that someone said maybe I'll come back for
the right tier. Does that mean that you are the
one deciding player pay or who is deciding salaries and
things like that.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
No, there was a committee that got together that tiered
the current players based on what they've done in Athletes
unlimited and so that can change though. You know obviously
each year you have to perform to keep your tier,
and you can drop and other people can increase, and
then how that's going to go as we expand in
(21:59):
more years is not quite sure, but for right now, Yeah,
there was a committee that tiered those athletes. But as
a GM, when a year ends, we can we can
put our two cents in on like, hey, this player
performed really well or I think this player needs to
be bumped up for consideration.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
Where are the games going to be played? You mentioned
being in market.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
So there's like six to eight cities. The only two
that are solidified right now are Chicago and Wichita. But
I can say they have actually looked like coast to coast.
So there's a lot of a lot of places being
considered that we have never really ever been before, even
in other professional entities with the national team. So we
(22:42):
could be in markets that will be the first time
they see, you know, elite level softball.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
When do you anticipate us learning about the locations?
Speaker 3 (22:50):
I would believe that you should probably know what cities
sometime in the next couple of weeks.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Cool.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
Are those locations being used to test the best spots
for permanent markets starting next season?
Speaker 3 (23:01):
Yes, so, as I said, wich Ta in Chicago, it's
probably not a it's like not a secret. Obviously, the
bandits with Chicago colors. But for yeah, season two, a
lot of these markets are going to be you know,
tested to see. Some of them already have made bids
and they believe that they're going to be strong enough
to do it, but it is it's to see who
comes out, you know, how is it hosted, is there
(23:24):
enough stuff? If the team's how's there for athletes to
you know, have all the resources they need. So yeah,
it's it's a test market. But at the same time,
I think too some of them might be solidified. I
don't know. But also where can we expand to? So
we're going to eight cities? Is this where we could
eventually have all eight teams?
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Cool?
Speaker 3 (23:43):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (23:44):
What are the league dates? When does it start and end?
Speaker 3 (23:47):
Athletes report at the end of May. I believe our
first series will be the first week or weekend of June,
and then the goal is to wrap up Our championship
series will be the top two teams best too out
of three and that'll end at the last week of July.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
So that's the season format, regular season matches. Between all
the games, the top two teams will end up in
the championship.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
Yes, cool.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Are there any new or different rules to look out?
For outside of the normal rules of softball orre we
playing it straight.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
No, we're gonna play it straight. There's nothing too funky.
I think in the past MPF and other pro entities
haven't had a run role. They've like, let everyone play
it out. But I think we might we might bring
the run role into effect for professional softball. That was
a conversation we were having, and I think a lot
of us were just with pitching and whatnot, trying to
advocate for that.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Is the run rule the nice newer way of saying
slaughter role? I guess, so, yeah, we think we stopped
saying that.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
That seems right. That seems like a good choice to
stop saying that.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
When I was growing up, if a team was getting beat,
the breaks off of it was called slaughter rule.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
If you ended it early.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
Run rule is nicer For folks newer to softball, What
are some ways to watch and be a more educated
viewer of the game watching the on just balls and
strikes or runs and outs.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
What are things we can look for?
Speaker 3 (25:03):
Well, I think one thing that with all of our
productions is athletes a limited does it themselves and they
do a great job of storytelling for each athlete, so
as you watch, you'll get to know more about the
individual athletes or a group of them if they came
from the same school. But at the same time watching
I think I obviously was a pitcher, so my eyes
are always in the circle, but just watching how a
(25:27):
pitcher uses their pitches in her repertoire and seeing later
in the game how they're doing something different than they
were early in the game. It's always fun to sit
down with athletes and go through hitters of an elite
pitcher and be like, Okay, this is what she was
doing early in the game, but they know that, you know,
in the first three innings this was her go to
and now she's changed that. But at the same time,
(25:48):
we have some amazing hitters that you can totally get
a feel of what they're looking for and how they're
gaining momentum in there at bat when you watch just
what pitches take, who they're facing for you know the
second or third time, and that becomes really fun. And
I think I would say as much as that everyone
(26:08):
wants to pick a team. On that team, pick a
hitter that you watch for one game and just watch
how she approaches every of that because you can learn
so much from all of these athletes.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
If we've got overachievers as listeners that really want to
they're not big on top of or haven't really looked
into it much. Do you have a resource that you
maybe give young players just starting out to start to
understand what to look for, what's the most important as
a player.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
That might also work for someone who just wants to watch.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
You know, we honestly don't have like a lot of
softball one oh one like go here to learn it.
I would say the biggest thing is go to YouTube
and type in a player or a team, or go
just follow your local college team. Go watch a game
and write down your questions and then watch it on TV.
Or like I said, athletes in the Limit have all
(26:56):
their past games for the championship series on YouTube. Go
watch and see, you know, do your questions get answered
or what else? Do you what else sticks out to you?
I think that's a big thing. We always tell young athletes, like,
go watch the game and then come to us with questions.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
Cool, so that.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
Way they're seeing it in real time and then you
get to tell them, Okay, they did this because of X,
Y and Z, and that's the best way to learn,
I feel like, but I still feel like we're so
young that we don't have that one that's off well,
one on one resource to point everyone too.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
Well, it sounds like your next job, Kat, that's your plate.
Where can folks get tickets if they want to go
to a game, you.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Can get them online AU pro sports dot com. All
of their sports are covered there, but aus L has
its own little tab now and once sites are announced
and tickets are available, it will be there.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
And how can folks watch on TV and streaming?
Speaker 3 (27:50):
ESPN is going to cover thirty games that goes with
our AUSL series as well as the Championship series, which
is the points based system, and then aside from that,
they usually if ESPN's not covering something between CBS, Sports
Valleys and other networks, it will be either streamed or
also aired, so it will be covered, you will be
able to see it. And we're excited to be launching.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
So from now on, AUSL will be the traditional format
and AU Sopball Championship Series will be the point.
Speaker 3 (28:20):
That it's going to be called All Star Cups, So
AUSL and then the All Star Cups, okay, perfect. The
premise is in the future, if we have eight teams,
the top sixty performers will get invited to All Star Cup.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Nice cool, that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
Okay, last couple here. Setting up a league is about
more than just getting players on the field, So tell
us about the behind the scenes. This is a little
bit easier for this because Athletes Unlimited has been in
practice for a number of years with different sports. But
what does it look like in terms of support staff, doctors,
physical therapists, hr, things like that, reporting if there's player
issues or you know, issues within the coaches or league.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
Correct, So we will have athletic trainers. We are trying,
I know, trying to make sure there's access to chiroproductors, pets.
If not traveling with us in market wherever we travel to,
housing is going to be taken care of. And if
they would like to have a housing back at Chicago
(29:18):
where we start off with our training, they can get
a stipend and find an airbnb or a rental property
or whatever if they would like to do that, and
keep stuff there so they're not carrying everything with them
for the five or six weeks. As I mentioned, the
childcare and Materneyle is great. The biggest thing that AUSL
has done that no NPR or no Professional Opportunity has
(29:41):
ever had is they have you around insurance. So that
was added to the docket this year, which is just huge.
A professional athlete, I had had a couple of short
term insurance policies to cover when I was in between
jobs and whatnot, so that's huge. Support staff isn't going
to be an issue. We're still hiring a lot, but
everything athlete and the women covers everything, and as since
(30:04):
they're all under one umbrella, everybody can kind of mix
and match or share if something happens. And then as
part of the advisory board, we are still working on
some of the policies and stuff, but it's going to
be top notch and professionally run. Cool.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
Okay, So we're closing with this my not yet trademarked
but should be trademarked approach to teaching folks about a
new sport, or talking to a newbie as I take
them to their first sporting event, or even just sort
of how I crafted how I wanted to talk about
stories of women's sports on this show can be summed
up by the four US's Stars, stakes, stats and stories.
(30:41):
So I want to close with the speed round for
the AUSL.
Speaker 2 (30:46):
Stars. You mentioned a couple, but who should we watch for?
Speaker 3 (30:49):
I mentioned Bubba Nichols and Carl Hoover. I think the
other one is Daja Moulliepolas. She was a previous champ.
She's coming back to AU after taking a year of
doing some other things, so it'll be excited to see
her back in the fold.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Okay, we're going to add their accounts to the show
notes so people can follow them and keep up with
keep up with the league. Okay, Stakes, how important is
it going to be for say, one regular season game
a winner or a loss to the team's likelihood of
making it to the championship. What are the stakes of
each game we're watching?
Speaker 3 (31:16):
Well, this year we have a limited short schedule, so
there's only twenty four games, so every game is going
to count. Every game is going to matter, even at
the very beginning, which I think a lot of times
is where you know, especially in men's sports, when they
play so many you kind of can get some more
up rowing.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
Stats.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
What's a great stat line in a single game for
a batter or for a pitcher for people to look
for for a hitter.
Speaker 3 (31:41):
I think, well, it depends, but usually a two for three,
two for four something where you know, but if they
go one for three with a sackfly move the runner,
that can also be successful. But I think a lot
of times watch the hard hits. If they're barreling football,
they're getting ready to get hot and go on a streak. Pitchers,
I'm a little bit selfish in that realm, so I
like to look at strikeouts, but really it's how few
(32:04):
free passes they give, walks and hit by pitches and
then can they scatter their hits as opposed to allowing
them to be back to back?
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Okay, and stories give us a story or two to follow.
It could be a player coming back from injury, a
player that breaks boundaries or represents an underrepresented group. It
could be a coach or a GM with a really
cool story. What's something we should be excited about as
we get looking forward to the season.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
Well, I think too. One, we just had a rookie,
Sidney McKinney. I think she was a rookie. She might
have been in her second year, but she's from Wichita.
So anytime the AUSL is going to go back to Wichita.
If she's on one of those two teams. It's I
think it's going to be fun to see how Wichita
shows out for her and how she performs there because
when aux was there she did really well. And then two,
(32:47):
I think the biggest get for AUSL has been Lisa Fernandez.
You know, but go she's been around the game. She'll
describe herself as a lifer, and to have her involved
right now in this new, vibrant kind of environment is
huge because of all of her experience in everything. I mean,
she's been part of, you know, trying to get a
(33:07):
national team going to being in the Olympics. Multiple different
pro avenues have existed in her time, and so it's
really cool to have her and see how her influence
is going to now continue to impact this young generation
of professional athletes.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
I love it. Well, that's it, folks.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
You know everything you need to know that you can
know so far about the AUSL.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
Thanks to the great Kat Austerman. Kat, thanks for.
Speaker 3 (33:30):
The time, Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
Welcome back, slices.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
We love that you're listening, but we want you to
get in the game every day too. So here's our
good game play of the day. Follow AUSL on social
and follow some of the players Cat mentioned, like Bubba
Nichols and Deja Mulipola. One of the best ways to
learn about a new league, get to know the players
and storylines, and keep up with the games is to
have them right in your social timeline, so hit that
follow button. Also check out photographer slash videographer Jade Hewitt
(34:06):
on Instagram for dope visuals and fantastic reporter Savannah Collins
for updates, interviews, and behind the scenes content. Links to
accounts in our show notes, And don't forget to subscribe,
rate and review like this paying homage to the Chicago
Bandits with a new Incarnation rating ten out of ten
inventive reinventions review. The Chicago Bandits were a staple of
(34:27):
the National Pro Fast Pitch League from twenty five to
twenty nineteen, so reimagining them with a new logo and
colors in this AUSL league just feels right, especially when
the new logo rocks the light blue, white and red
of the Chicago Flag Bandits Forever. Now it's your turn, subscribe,
rate and review.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
Thanks for listening. See you tomorrow. Good game, Cat, good
game AUSL.
Speaker 1 (34:49):
You trying to play a professional sport after taking a
red eye flight. Good Game with Sarah Spain is an
iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports
and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by
Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones.
Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan
(35:12):
and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez,
Grace Lynch and Lindsay Crowdowell. Production assistants from Lucy Jones
and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain
Welcome to good Game with Sarah Spain, where we just
woke up in a cold sweat after dreaming we had
to try to hit a cat Asterman fastball. It's Wednesday,
January eighth, and today we continue our New Year, New
Leagues series of shows, serving up everything you need to
know about the new professional women's leagues, kicking off, tipping off,
first pitching, and first serving their way into our hearts
(00:20):
in twenty twenty five. Today's League Athletes Unlimited Softball AKAAUSLF.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
A new professional women's softball league.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
From the folks at Athletes Unlimited, this time playing in
the traditional team softball format. Softball Legend and GM of
the AUSL volts Cat Austerman joins the show to give
us the stakes, stars, stories.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
And stats that we need to be ready for first pitch.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
It's all coming up right after this, All right sliceys,
Welcome back to New Year, New Leagues.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Today AUSL.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Joining us to tell us everything we need to know
about AUSL. She's an Olympic gold medalist and two time
Olympic silver medallist, a collegiate, four time All American, and
four time Big twelve Pitcher of the Year. She ended
her career at the University of Texas with school pitching
records and wins, strikeouts, era, no hitters, perfect games, whip innings,
pitch shutout, strikeout ratio, and opponent's batting average, and still
(01:23):
leads in all those categories. Still leads in most of
those categories for the Big Twelve as well. The first
overall pick in the National Pro Fast Pitch League, she
earned four NFP titles, was named Championship MVP three times,
and was a six time professional All Star. She was
the champion of Athletes Unlimited's inaugural softball season in twenty
twenty and finished her professional career with Athletes Unlimited in
twenty twenty one before joining the AU Advisory Board in
(01:45):
twenty twenty three. She's the only person to win USA
Softball's National Player of the Year honors three times, and
she's an advisor and GM in the new Athletes Unlimited
Softball League.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
It's Kat Austerman. What's up, Cat?
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Hey so excited to join you.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
I know we've been flirting with each other on social
media for years, never actually meeting in person yet, but
we finally get to actually talk, which is amazing.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
One of these days I'm in Chicago enough. I don't
know how we haven't crossed path.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
We need to make it happen.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
By the way, I reserve the right for any of
that bio to be slightly off based on the fact
that I could have spent years talking about your accomplishments
and the fact that you still hold all those records
all these years later. You just never know when someone
pops up and breaks something. But I'm pretty confident about
all of that. And it's just like so impressive reading
about especially the people who become the names that we
(02:35):
all know. There's a couple softball players that are just
the three or four that everybody knows. You have so
many accomplishments, so many records. When you look back at
your playing career, is there something that stands out that
you're most proud of?
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Well, you know, I think my college career, just because
I went a little bit against the green At the time,
the Pack was the premiere conference. You know, Arizona Ucla
were winning titles going back and forth, and I was
recruited by both those schools, but I really wanted to
be different and tried to beat the big dogs, and
so I stayed home at Texas and part of that
was being closer to my family. But I think my
(03:09):
college career really I say all the time, if I
had chosen somewhere else, I don't know if I would
have catapulted successfully as quickly as I did. At Texas.
I got thrown in the fire. There was only one
returning picture. Everywhere else had a couple different returning pictures,
and all Americans at that and you know, who knows.
If I'd gone there, maybe I still would have been
(03:31):
a one or two or you never know. But I
just saw a clear path at Texas for a chance
for me to to take that role and it worked out.
But really proud because I mean it was hard. Obviously,
you spend four years and put blood, sweat and tears
into a jersey. But it was really cool the first
time we got to go the World Series, the first
World Series game. But then I think the really fun
(03:52):
part was to see how fans turned out by the
end of my career and just finishing Super Regionals there
and beyond left field there's a street, but they allowed
people to park on the curb, and come postseason we
had people put it parking their boats there, big old
buses with like you know, built out build outs on top,
so it was a party out in left field. Occasionally
(04:13):
a fire truck from one of the fire stations nearby
would park out there and all the firemen would sit
up top until they got a.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Call and amazing.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
So it was really cool just to see the evolution.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
You know, you changed a program a while ago.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Yeah, yeah, it was really fun.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Yeah, that's really cool.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
You also had some cool pop culture moments at opportunities.
You were the first softball player on the cover of
Sports Illustrated. You appeared in the ESPN Body Issue. Is
there a particular opportunity or cool experience that stands out
to you from those years when you were kind of everywhere?
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Well, I will tell you the Body Issue. I know
they aired like an overview of the I think ten
years they had done it, and they say that someone
cried on the very first shoot. That was me. I
thought it was the coolest thing until we got ready
to go and then all of a sudden, like I
just panicked. But it's it was cool to be part
of and be asked to be part of that. But
I really think the twenty fourteen being on the cover
(05:06):
of Sports Illustrated was the coolest experience. One I was young,
but two they told us, you know, we beat out
Michael Phelps I think for that cover, and for all
of us at that point, it was like that was
the biggest thing. But just to have our team honored
in that way, because you know, you do you you
always wonder, you know, who's going to be on that
cover and who's going to be on the Wheaties box
and all of that, and so that that part pop
(05:30):
culture and I think most of us still have that,
uh that cover frame somewhere, and it's just it was
one of the best experiences for our team.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
That's really cool for those that aren't super familiar with softball.
Can you set the stage for what the post college
softball landscape has kind of looked like for the last
twenty years or so?
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Oh so, it's been really up and down. The NPF
was going for a while. It had been in operation
for I want to say, probably eight or ten years
before I shouldn't say ten, probably eight before I played there.
There were other entities of it, but every time it
just kind of got rebranded. So I was drafted into
the NPF straight out of college. I did not play
(06:11):
my first year, but then ended up joining the year
after I graduated. Played ten years there and that continued
on really until about two years ago, and then MPF
folded and now the WPF has taken its place. But
at the same time, right around COVID is when Athletes
Unlimited kind of jumped in and had this different idea
(06:34):
for professional sports. And I will admit without COVID, I
probably wouldn't have played it because the first time someone
explains it to you, you're like, oh, what's that. But
then we all got into that environment and absolutely loved it.
And so Athletes Unlimited has been going for the last
five years. And then at the same time there have
been various different other professional opportunities. A couple of teams
(06:58):
on the East Coast have partnered up and they run
a league during the summer. You know, there's a there's
an independent team out of Oklahoma City that runs. It's
just been very inconsistent, and you know, even when the
WPF or the NPF, excuse me, ran there were teams
that were treated truly professional, and then there were teams that,
you know, one team's getting wined and dying at a
(07:20):
steakhouse and the others eating McDonald's or ones, you know,
on a great flight and the other is on the
cheapest flight, which is making them on a red eye,
or they're getting in barely in time to change and
run to the field. You know, there were just so
many discrepancies of how people were being treated in the
professional environment, and so it kind of it was chaos
(07:40):
for a little while. You know, there were I was
in the NPF where I think at one point we
had eight to six to four to five, like the
teams just and the team I was on ended up
relocating from Rockford to Tennessee, to Florida back to Tennessee
and then they got renamed, renamed and rebranded and bought
out in it up in Pennsylvania somewhere. So it was just,
(08:03):
you know, we've had people try, and you know, the
NPF was there and a lot of us from the
national team played in it for a good chunk of time,
but just being able to get it to actually go
has been a challenge.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
I mentioned that you were and still are one of
the top names in softball major name recognition. How have
you tried to parlay that unique popularity and people knowing
you to help the sport of softball over the years,
and what do you think is the biggest barrier to
the sport being able to at the pro level try
to reach the same support, ratings and attendance of the
massive success of the women's College World Series.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Yeah. Well, you know, I jumped into coaching right out
of college. So I college coached for twelve years and
tried to, you know, wherever I was obviously influenced girls
to have it to think about the opportunity of playing professionally,
and you know, quick full circle story. I actually got
to retire the same year as one of my pitchers
that I coached at Texas State because she played two
(08:58):
years professionally. And when I had scot her and said, hey,
have you ever thought about playing professional? When I thought
she had the tools to do it, she was like,
are you crazy? No, I'm here for four years to
get out. So, you know, uh, it was fun to
be in that. And then when once I stepped down
from college coaching and I was actually you know, honored
to be part of athletes and womened first year just
(09:20):
seeing what John and Jonathan do. I when I retired,
I told him I want to do anything and everything,
you know, I can to help you guys make this go,
and ended up being on the advisory board and just
trying to keep people knowing what's going on and whether
it's just sharing on social media, doing appearances, going up
there once a season to you know, pre game draft,
(09:40):
pre draft shows, whatever it is, trying to jump in
and continue to help put the professional, you know, game
in everyone's eyes. And you know, we have to be
able to get brand recognition. And I think honestly, with
Athletes a Limited dropping the AUSL when we are, they
already have the brand recognition from us playing in COVID.
(10:02):
I mean we benefited that literally nothing else was on
during COVID. I mean I laugh. People were like, oh,
you were on the ticker. I was like, that's how
slow sports was. It's on the ticker that I resigned
my job as a college coach, and a couple of
weeks later, like on the ticker that I signed with
Athletes Unlimited. I'm like, we don't have anything going on,
so I'll take my moment. But you know, it was
(10:23):
the blessing for us, especially in softball that we got
so many fans during that first season, and so it's
it's the brand recognition, and I think it's better because
athletes and women that has a following now and now
we can say, hey, we have these teams. Yeah, and
let's push that because that is what it is. It's
it's when you start brand new and people don't know
who you are. That's the hardest part. And I've learned
(10:44):
that now my husband and I opened the business and
it's like, man, you think social media is just going
to like we're blast everything out for you, and it
doesn't happen that way. And so I think having the
brand recognition really actually might help this entity be able
to connect with those college fans because college softball is huge.
I mean, I still go to games at Texas. I've
(11:05):
been welcomed up in Norman. As much as that sounds sacrilegious,
I said, I wanted to see the stadium and the
fans were like, come on up, we'd love to have you.
And yeah, you know, they just they they love the
history of it, they love what's coming of it, and
they we just have to get them to love their
athletes post college as well. And you know that's, like
you said, that's been the trick. But I think the
(11:27):
brand recognition of Athletes Unlimited already established is going to
help that.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Yeah, so you mentioned the previous and still will be running.
AU softball has individual and team points earned per game,
and then in the end, one individual player wins it all.
That was you the inaugural champion of Athletes Unlimited Softball
back in twenty twenty. What did you take from your
experience that you mentioned made you want to join as
(11:51):
an advisor and also that you brought to your role
once you got there and said, this is what stood
out to me from playing, this is what was great,
this is what needs to be worked.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
One part of it was John and Jonathan. John Patrick
co Hof was more of the point person that we
saw a lot in season one, and I remember he
was coming into town and he had just text and
was like, hey, you know, I know you've been in
pro softful for a long time. I love to say
I'm in chat and he just wanted my perspective on
where it was. You know, how was season one going,
what could be better? And obviously during COVID there were
(12:22):
so many restrictions, it was hard to say what was
better because we we had our own we had our
own bubble there too, and so but I just remember
him wanting to have conversation and I was like, Okay,
they're in this for the long haul and they truly
want the product their athlete to be happy and to
have what they need. And then the people they hire
(12:43):
from content team to you know, are the people who
are managing our equipment, our draft, you know, everyone that
helps produce the draft and all of that. It's just
everyone was really truly invested and it wasn't just a job.
There were times where I think people wanted to get
into sport and they found a job in the in
pro softball, but it was just a job in the
stepping stone, and they found people who truly were invested
(13:06):
in women's sports, and that was it stood out because
NAM want to be around people that are invested in you,
in what you're doing, and not just there to you know,
check the box of you know, I got this this
and this done today.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
And so AU has always felt to me like they
really listened to a lot of what people say they
want out of professional women's sports and they give it,
whether that's maternal care to athlete opinions and voices being
heard on everything from uniforms to everything else. So it
feels like they're doing it right, and it's just about
continuing to get the word out about that. So we
just talked about the previous AU softball format. Twenty twenty
(13:41):
five is going to see a new Athlete's Unlimited Softball league,
more traditional kind, starting as a touring property featuring games
in six to eight different cities, and then becoming a
city based league beginning in twenty twenty six. We're going
to take a little break here and when we come back,
we're going to get a full AUSL one oh one
from Cat Asterman.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
It's coming up next to.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
We're back talking with Kat Osterman, and I mentioned the
transition from the old individual league to the new more
traditional league. Why the change, and I think you mentioned
they're both going to exist moving forward.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
Yeah, so fans and athletes both were kind of asking
for the traditional league. Originally AU had put AUX, which
was an extra like three week shortened season as a
tune up for the actual championship season, and instead we're
going to implement the traditional season during that time extended
a little bit. But both fans, you know, a lot
(14:41):
of fans and like, as we said, there's a history
of college softball fans that have watched, those that did
tune in there, a lot of them didn't like kind
of I call it the fantasy model. They didn't like
that points model, and they've been asking for a team model.
And then I think athletes too. Sometimes when you get
in the points model, if you get down towards the bottom,
you're not given opportunities to get yourself out of that spot.
(15:05):
You just end up being you know, the bench person
for a couple of weeks or maybe get one or
two at bats, and it doesn't really allow you to
move up. And so now with the traditional model, it
gives athletes a chance to be able to play every
week and work themselves through slumps and things like that.
But yeah, so they went ahead and listened to two
fans and athletes and we're going to do the six
(15:26):
week traditional model, and we're all really excited about it.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
So let's do AUSL one oh one here. Yet, you've
told us how we arrived at this, Let's start with
what it's going to look like with teams. How many
of them are there and who are they?
Speaker 3 (15:40):
Yeah, so we have four teams. I am in charge
of the Volts and my head coach is Kelly Creutchman,
who's also a decorated Olympian and professional. We have the Talents,
whose GM is actually the Goats of All Goats, Lisa Fernandez.
Their head coach is Howard Dobson, who's a longtime college
coach and just recently got out of a college game,
but has also been in the USA Softball Arena as
(16:03):
a coach. We have The Blaze, which is GM'd by
Danis Sorenson, one of the smartest people in our game.
She played at Stanford, a little bit older than I am.
And her head coach is Alissa Gohler, who is a
former professional player as well. And then, last but not least,
the Bandits are recreated and Stacy Nuveman, who was their
(16:23):
head coach their last few years in the NPF, is
going to head coach that and her GM is Jenny
Dalton Hill, another big name from actually before even like
the four team stuff. She played at Arizona. So those
four teams are going to kick off the inaugural year,
and the hope is that we add two more in
here too.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
There is something for everyone with these names and logos.
The Blaze is super bright, kind of like nineties pop.
The talents have this incredible crest that looks like a
peregrine falcon sort of formed into a crush shape.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
The Bandits.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Of course, I'm a little bit biased being a Chicago
gallon having on to see the Chicago Bandits on many occasions.
The way they incorporate the colors of the Chicago flag
and the star kind.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Of ties to that. But the Volts have the best colors.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
In my opinion, I am really into that sort of
tennis ball green and with the purple.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
I think it's going to pop.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
So people can find their merch, they can find the team,
the players, the logos that they're drawn to. You mentioned
the gms and coaches leading the teams. So much experience,
so much history there in softball. What about some of
the players. I know there's still a lot of signings
yet to happen, but who are some of the players
we'll be watching in this new league.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
Yeah, anyone you've seen in a US Championship season unless
they retired, are eligible, And a lot of contracts were
extended to majority of the returning players. Right now, we
have Bubba Nichols, who.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Greatest name in sports in my opinion, Bubba Nichols. It's
so good.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Yes, she got married and I think she might have
put her married name on her jersey and we were like, dude,
you have to just stick with bubb the Nichols. Yes,
it is what it is. Carly Hoover, who was an
amazing picture at LSU, is actually coming back Stateside to
play professionally. She's been playing over in Japan where she's
dominated for a few years. And then we have you know,
(18:10):
not signed yet but have been part of au You know,
you have amand Lorenz who's the most recent champion, Rachel Garcia,
all of those that we're trying to we're waiting to
see when they sign, and we'll hopefully be part of
the first allocation draft.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Do you have any idea if any of the players
who recently retired might be changing their minds to come
back now that there's this new AUSL to join.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
I did see Haley mcclinney recently and she was like,
if you can promise me this tier, I might I
might retire for a couple of years. So I do
know there are some that, like we were all wishing
for this model to come, and some of them, I
don't know, give them a year, they might unresign.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Yeah, they might catch sight of what's going on over
there and decide they want back in something you did.
Of course, you had a couple retirements and returns. So
as a GM, when you're looking at these players that
you want to add to this new league, what's your
role in signing them and scouting them?
Speaker 3 (19:04):
So I'm gonna work with Kelly obviously on creating a
roster that we feel like is going to be talented
but at the same time passionate, energetic. So it's about,
you know, the culture, and I think the plus side
I have is that I've played with a lot of
these athletes, so I know who they are on and
off the field. I know you know their character and
how they how they play the game, and if they're
(19:25):
going to match the other pieces that we put into
place before, you know, in rounds, before we draft certain people,
and then after that, it's about making sure that everything
is running smoothly. I'm gonna, you know, I have to
I shouldn't say have to. I will be in market
for most of it doing double duty because I also
coach an eighteen new team, so I'll be going back
and forth in a lot of softball during that time,
(19:47):
but you know, be in market, make sure the travel
is taken care of, make sure that you know, we
know what hotel we're going to, where where food's coming from,
like all those things with the places that we're traveling
to and so and then eventually once season's over. I
think the cool part that they want us to offer is,
you know, a player development plan. So when you have
(20:07):
rookies that maybe didn't play, could be on the bubble
if they get a contract, here's what we need to
see from you in the off season. You know, we
need to see you improve in these areas, and we're
going to give them resources to be able to do
those player development plans. And that's something that we've never
had in our sport because it's always just go figure
out how to be a professional athlete on your own.
And so being able to put together player development plans.
(20:30):
It does fall on my shoulders to release players if
we think, you know, we need to move on from them.
And so that might be the tough part, especially if
they're people I've played with. But I'm I'm known to
be a very honest communicator. So while it might be
a little bit tough, on my heart strings. I think
I'll be able to do it, but really excited just
because we get to add some pieces, you know, especially
(20:52):
for the player development overall. That is huge for our sport.
And as you said, you know, AU has always done
childcare and maternity leave and all of that really well,
and so the childcare policy is huge. An athlete can
have their child travel with them and AU pays for it,
or they get a stipend and that can go to
(21:12):
whoever's helping watch them back home.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Awesome.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Yeah, so it's about coordinating that too, you know, making
sure that families are taken care of and all of
that as we travel. And it's not just only on
the field stuff.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
You mentioned that someone said maybe I'll come back for
the right tier. Does that mean that you are the
one deciding player pay or who is deciding salaries and
things like that.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
No, there was a committee that got together that tiered
the current players based on what they've done in Athletes
unlimited and so that can change though. You know obviously
each year you have to perform to keep your tier,
and you can drop and other people can increase, and
then how that's going to go as we expand in
(21:59):
more years is not quite sure, but for right now, Yeah,
there was a committee that tiered those athletes. But as
a GM, when a year ends, we can we can
put our two cents in on like, hey, this player
performed really well or I think this player needs to
be bumped up for consideration.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
Where are the games going to be played? You mentioned
being in market.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
So there's like six to eight cities. The only two
that are solidified right now are Chicago and Wichita. But
I can say they have actually looked like coast to coast.
So there's a lot of a lot of places being
considered that we have never really ever been before, even
in other professional entities with the national team. So we
(22:42):
could be in markets that will be the first time
they see, you know, elite level softball.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
When do you anticipate us learning about the locations?
Speaker 3 (22:50):
I would believe that you should probably know what cities
sometime in the next couple of weeks.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Cool.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
Are those locations being used to test the best spots
for permanent markets starting next season?
Speaker 3 (23:01):
Yes, so, as I said, wich Ta in Chicago, it's
probably not a it's like not a secret. Obviously, the
bandits with Chicago colors. But for yeah, season two, a
lot of these markets are going to be you know,
tested to see. Some of them already have made bids
and they believe that they're going to be strong enough
to do it, but it is it's to see who
comes out, you know, how is it hosted, is there
(23:24):
enough stuff? If the team's how's there for athletes to
you know, have all the resources they need. So yeah,
it's it's a test market. But at the same time,
I think too some of them might be solidified. I
don't know. But also where can we expand to? So
we're going to eight cities? Is this where we could
eventually have all eight teams?
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Cool?
Speaker 3 (23:43):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (23:44):
What are the league dates? When does it start and end?
Speaker 3 (23:47):
Athletes report at the end of May. I believe our
first series will be the first week or weekend of June,
and then the goal is to wrap up Our championship
series will be the top two teams best too out
of three and that'll end at the last week of July.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
So that's the season format, regular season matches. Between all
the games, the top two teams will end up in
the championship.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
Yes, cool.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Are there any new or different rules to look out?
For outside of the normal rules of softball orre we
playing it straight.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
No, we're gonna play it straight. There's nothing too funky.
I think in the past MPF and other pro entities
haven't had a run role. They've like, let everyone play
it out. But I think we might we might bring
the run role into effect for professional softball. That was
a conversation we were having, and I think a lot
of us were just with pitching and whatnot, trying to
advocate for that.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Is the run rule the nice newer way of saying
slaughter role? I guess, so, yeah, we think we stopped
saying that.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
That seems right. That seems like a good choice to
stop saying that.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
When I was growing up, if a team was getting beat,
the breaks off of it was called slaughter rule.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
If you ended it early.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
Run rule is nicer For folks newer to softball, What
are some ways to watch and be a more educated
viewer of the game watching the on just balls and
strikes or runs and outs.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
What are things we can look for?
Speaker 3 (25:03):
Well, I think one thing that with all of our
productions is athletes a limited does it themselves and they
do a great job of storytelling for each athlete, so
as you watch, you'll get to know more about the
individual athletes or a group of them if they came
from the same school. But at the same time watching
I think I obviously was a pitcher, so my eyes
are always in the circle, but just watching how a
(25:27):
pitcher uses their pitches in her repertoire and seeing later
in the game how they're doing something different than they
were early in the game. It's always fun to sit
down with athletes and go through hitters of an elite
pitcher and be like, Okay, this is what she was
doing early in the game, but they know that, you know,
in the first three innings this was her go to
and now she's changed that. But at the same time,
(25:48):
we have some amazing hitters that you can totally get
a feel of what they're looking for and how they're
gaining momentum in there at bat when you watch just
what pitches take, who they're facing for you know the
second or third time, and that becomes really fun. And
I think I would say as much as that everyone
(26:08):
wants to pick a team. On that team, pick a
hitter that you watch for one game and just watch
how she approaches every of that because you can learn
so much from all of these athletes.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
If we've got overachievers as listeners that really want to
they're not big on top of or haven't really looked
into it much. Do you have a resource that you
maybe give young players just starting out to start to
understand what to look for, what's the most important as
a player.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
That might also work for someone who just wants to watch.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
You know, we honestly don't have like a lot of
softball one oh one like go here to learn it.
I would say the biggest thing is go to YouTube
and type in a player or a team, or go
just follow your local college team. Go watch a game
and write down your questions and then watch it on TV.
Or like I said, athletes in the Limit have all
(26:56):
their past games for the championship series on YouTube. Go
watch and see, you know, do your questions get answered
or what else? Do you what else sticks out to you?
I think that's a big thing. We always tell young athletes, like,
go watch the game and then come to us with questions.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
Cool, so that.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
Way they're seeing it in real time and then you
get to tell them, Okay, they did this because of X,
Y and Z, and that's the best way to learn,
I feel like, but I still feel like we're so
young that we don't have that one that's off well,
one on one resource to point everyone too.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
Well, it sounds like your next job, Kat, that's your plate.
Where can folks get tickets if they want to go
to a game, you.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Can get them online AU pro sports dot com. All
of their sports are covered there, but aus L has
its own little tab now and once sites are announced
and tickets are available, it will be there.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
And how can folks watch on TV and streaming?
Speaker 3 (27:50):
ESPN is going to cover thirty games that goes with
our AUSL series as well as the Championship series, which
is the points based system, and then aside from that,
they usually if ESPN's not covering something between CBS, Sports
Valleys and other networks, it will be either streamed or
also aired, so it will be covered, you will be
able to see it. And we're excited to be launching.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
So from now on, AUSL will be the traditional format
and AU Sopball Championship Series will be the point.
Speaker 3 (28:20):
That it's going to be called All Star Cups, So
AUSL and then the All Star Cups, okay, perfect. The
premise is in the future, if we have eight teams,
the top sixty performers will get invited to All Star Cup.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Nice cool, that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
Okay, last couple here. Setting up a league is about
more than just getting players on the field, So tell
us about the behind the scenes. This is a little
bit easier for this because Athletes Unlimited has been in
practice for a number of years with different sports. But
what does it look like in terms of support staff, doctors,
physical therapists, hr, things like that, reporting if there's player
issues or you know, issues within the coaches or league.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
Correct, So we will have athletic trainers. We are trying,
I know, trying to make sure there's access to chiroproductors, pets.
If not traveling with us in market wherever we travel to,
housing is going to be taken care of. And if
they would like to have a housing back at Chicago
(29:18):
where we start off with our training, they can get
a stipend and find an airbnb or a rental property
or whatever if they would like to do that, and
keep stuff there so they're not carrying everything with them
for the five or six weeks. As I mentioned, the
childcare and Materneyle is great. The biggest thing that AUSL
has done that no NPR or no Professional Opportunity has
(29:41):
ever had is they have you around insurance. So that
was added to the docket this year, which is just huge.
A professional athlete, I had had a couple of short
term insurance policies to cover when I was in between
jobs and whatnot, so that's huge. Support staff isn't going
to be an issue. We're still hiring a lot, but
everything athlete and the women covers everything, and as since
(30:04):
they're all under one umbrella, everybody can kind of mix
and match or share if something happens. And then as
part of the advisory board, we are still working on
some of the policies and stuff, but it's going to
be top notch and professionally run. Cool.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
Okay, So we're closing with this my not yet trademarked
but should be trademarked approach to teaching folks about a
new sport, or talking to a newbie as I take
them to their first sporting event, or even just sort
of how I crafted how I wanted to talk about
stories of women's sports on this show can be summed
up by the four US's Stars, stakes, stats and stories.
(30:41):
So I want to close with the speed round for
the AUSL.
Speaker 2 (30:46):
Stars. You mentioned a couple, but who should we watch for?
Speaker 3 (30:49):
I mentioned Bubba Nichols and Carl Hoover. I think the
other one is Daja Moulliepolas. She was a previous champ.
She's coming back to AU after taking a year of
doing some other things, so it'll be excited to see
her back in the fold.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Okay, we're going to add their accounts to the show
notes so people can follow them and keep up with
keep up with the league. Okay, Stakes, how important is
it going to be for say, one regular season game
a winner or a loss to the team's likelihood of
making it to the championship. What are the stakes of
each game we're watching?
Speaker 3 (31:16):
Well, this year we have a limited short schedule, so
there's only twenty four games, so every game is going
to count. Every game is going to matter, even at
the very beginning, which I think a lot of times
is where you know, especially in men's sports, when they
play so many you kind of can get some more
up rowing.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
Stats.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
What's a great stat line in a single game for
a batter or for a pitcher for people to look
for for a hitter.
Speaker 3 (31:41):
I think, well, it depends, but usually a two for three,
two for four something where you know, but if they
go one for three with a sackfly move the runner,
that can also be successful. But I think a lot
of times watch the hard hits. If they're barreling football,
they're getting ready to get hot and go on a streak. Pitchers,
I'm a little bit selfish in that realm, so I
like to look at strikeouts, but really it's how few
(32:04):
free passes they give, walks and hit by pitches and
then can they scatter their hits as opposed to allowing
them to be back to back?
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Okay, and stories give us a story or two to follow.
It could be a player coming back from injury, a
player that breaks boundaries or represents an underrepresented group. It
could be a coach or a GM with a really
cool story. What's something we should be excited about as
we get looking forward to the season.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
Well, I think too. One, we just had a rookie,
Sidney McKinney. I think she was a rookie. She might
have been in her second year, but she's from Wichita.
So anytime the AUSL is going to go back to Wichita.
If she's on one of those two teams. It's I
think it's going to be fun to see how Wichita
shows out for her and how she performs there because
when aux was there she did really well. And then two,
(32:47):
I think the biggest get for AUSL has been Lisa Fernandez.
You know, but go she's been around the game. She'll
describe herself as a lifer, and to have her involved
right now in this new, vibrant kind of environment is
huge because of all of her experience in everything. I mean,
she's been part of, you know, trying to get a
(33:07):
national team going to being in the Olympics. Multiple different
pro avenues have existed in her time, and so it's
really cool to have her and see how her influence
is going to now continue to impact this young generation
of professional athletes.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
I love it. Well, that's it, folks.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
You know everything you need to know that you can
know so far about the AUSL.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
Thanks to the great Kat Austerman. Kat, thanks for.
Speaker 3 (33:30):
The time, Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
Welcome back, slices.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
We love that you're listening, but we want you to
get in the game every day too. So here's our
good game play of the day. Follow AUSL on social
and follow some of the players Cat mentioned, like Bubba
Nichols and Deja Mulipola. One of the best ways to
learn about a new league, get to know the players
and storylines, and keep up with the games is to
have them right in your social timeline, so hit that
follow button. Also check out photographer slash videographer Jade Hewitt
(34:06):
on Instagram for dope visuals and fantastic reporter Savannah Collins
for updates, interviews, and behind the scenes content. Links to
accounts in our show notes, And don't forget to subscribe,
rate and review like this paying homage to the Chicago
Bandits with a new Incarnation rating ten out of ten
inventive reinventions review. The Chicago Bandits were a staple of
(34:27):
the National Pro Fast Pitch League from twenty five to
twenty nineteen, so reimagining them with a new logo and
colors in this AUSL league just feels right, especially when
the new logo rocks the light blue, white and red
of the Chicago Flag Bandits Forever. Now it's your turn, subscribe,
rate and review.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
Thanks for listening. See you tomorrow. Good game, Cat, good
game AUSL.
Speaker 1 (34:49):
You trying to play a professional sport after taking a
red eye flight. Good Game with Sarah Spain is an
iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports
and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by
Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones.
Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan
(35:12):
and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez,
Grace Lynch and Lindsay Crowdowell. Production assistants from Lucy Jones
and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain
Host
Sarah Spain
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