Ahead of the inaugural Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) season in June, Little League Softball® teamed up with Athletes Unlimited to host the first-ever “Little League Softball Unlimited” events, bringing Little Leaguers® and professional softball players together in four major cities across the United States.
The unique events were featured in four key cities as part of the overall AUSL “This is Legendary” Preseason Tour, helping fans learn about the league in their own communities while connecting young softball players to their role models:
- Raleigh, North Carolina
- Austin, Texas
- Chicago, Illinois
- Seattle, Washington
Each weekend throughout the month of April, local Little League Softball programs had the opportunity to learn directly from a group of AUSL players – including Oldsmar (Fla.) LL grad Aliyah Andrews – as part of a panel discussion before meeting and smiling for pictures with the young athletes. In addition to the off-field learnings, the Little Leaguers also had the opportunity to compete on the diamond using the scoring system developed by Athletes Unlimited and used during the AUSL All-Star Cup, including at the 2025 AUSL Pro Games at the Little League Softball World Series, Presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods.
“One word to describe the month of April – UNLIMITED. We spent the month on the road with our friends at Athletes Unlimited to put on four amazing Little League Softball Unlimited events,” said Ashlea Miller, Little League Director of Softball Development. “Our regular season Little League Softball participants got to meet their role models from the new AUSL league, play in a leaderboard style game, celebrate and highlight their Little League Softball programs in their communities, and got to hear more about the new AUSL league coming to their communities this summer. This is what it’s all about.”
Mimicking Athletes Unlimited’s innovative leaderboard format, each individual player was able to win points based on several different factors, including offensive at-bats and defensive strikeouts for pitchers. Teams were also able to gain points if their individual players pooled the most points at the completion of an inning and if they won the game. At the end of the games, a female player is named the overall winner on the leaderboard.
“April was legendary. We had the incredibly opportunity to work with our friends at Athletes Unlimited to continue the celebration around the growth of softball all over the map,” said Emily Workman, Little League Softball Operations Coordinator. “The weekends were filled with opportunities to meet and learn from AUSL pros, making huge plays on the field, and learning more about the exciting AUSL launch coming back to their communities this summer.”
The AUSL’s inaugural season will kick off on June 7 in Rosemont, Illinois, and Wichita, Kansas. The season will feature four teams – Bandits, Blaze, Talons, and Volts – playing 24 games in a traditional format and will be followed by the AUSL All-Star Cup (formerly the AU Pro Softball Championship Season) between July and August with a stop in Greenville, North Carolina, for the AUSL Pro Games at the LLSWS, Presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods, on August 6. There will be 11 former Little Leaguers rostered across the four teams who will tour 12 cities throughout the season, with more than 33 of the games to be broadcast on ESPN, ESPN+, and EPSNU.
Little League and Athletes Unlimited formed a strategic partnership in August 2020 to bring together Little League Softball players and the world’s best softball athletes. As part of the partnership, Little League and Athletes Unlimited work together throughout the year to coordinate live and digital events that provide engagement between Little Leaguers and professional softball players, including the annual Athletes Unlimited Pro Games played during the Little League Softball World Series; promote and strengthen the Little League Girls with Game® initiative; and develop interest in and access to the game of softball at every level and in every community.
Learn more about Athletes Unlimited and the new Athletes Unlimited Softball League by visiting AUProSports.com.