Other Pro Leagues

National Girls Baseball League (1944 thru 1954) - Most of us have heard of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League made famous by the movie "A League of Their Own." But how many of us have heard about the National Girls Baseball League (NGBL). The NGBL was formed in 1944 and consisted of teams from the Chicago area. The league drew over 500,000 fans annually by the late 1940's and lasted 11 seasons. Unlike the All American Girls Professional Baseball League the NGBL kept the traditional underhand softball pitching format. Adam Chu, a documentary filmmaker that works for the Chicago Bandits, has developed a website dedicated to the National Girls Baseball League. For more on the NGBL, please visit his website at http://www.nationalgirlsbaseballleague.com.

National Pro Fastpitch (1997 thru 2021) - After many years of field research and market studies, in May 1997 the Cowles family and title sponsor AT&T Wireless Services launched the Women's Pro Fastpitch (WPF) softball league. In 1998, the league changed its name to the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL). In November 2002, the WPSL announced a rebranding strategy and official name change to its current name, the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF). At that time, Major League Baseball partnered with NPF as its Official Development partner as a continuation of MLB's efforts to connect with female athletes and women. Since then the league had been a successful endeavor as evidenced by its continued existence until 2021. Unfortunately, the league suspended league operations in August 2021 after cancelling the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Per a league statement, "The cancellation of the 2020 and 2021 seasons, necessitated by the combination of the COVID pandemic and preparations for the Tokyo Olympics, has effectively shut off all sources of league revenue and necessitated the termination of league staff and other essential services. At this point, resumption of activity is impossible to predict." The NPF website at http://www.profastpitch.com is no longer available but the NPF still has a facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/profastpitch/ but it appears to be inactive..