Help & FAQs
General Overview
Founded in 2020, the Alliance Fastpitch is a member-based organization focused on organizing and unifying fastpitch softball through our Member Leagues and our cohesive network of athletes, coaches, and parents. It is our goal to drive athlete-centric programming and development-based resources that raise the standard for our sport. The Alliance Fastpitch is the result of grassroots collaboration and a vision for change by youth fastpitch leaders across the country. The eight Member Leagues within the Alliance Fastpitch include the Pacific Coast Fastpitch League, Heart of America Fastpitch League, Northeast Fastpitch League, Rocky Mountain Fastpitch League, Southeastern Fastpitch League, Texas Fastpitch League, Northwest Fastpitch League and Atlantic Coast Fastpitch League. The Alliance helps create unity amongst the leagues in regards to (1) Team & Individual Stats and Leaderboards (2) Post Season Play and (3) Point Systems. The Alliance Fastpitch, along with the associated Member Leagues, promotes competitive and purposeful play that prepares athletes on and off the field.
There are currently eight Member Fastpitch Leagues who operate within the national unifying structure of The Alliance. These Member Leagues create an organized structure for teams in the 10U to 18U age divisions. Each Member League creates its own point system through League Play and tournament finishes. Stats are kept at the team and individual level to recognize category leaders at each age division both regionally and nationally.
- Events within Member Leagues point systems are a combination of pre-existing and created sanctioned events from different associations and event organizers
- Member Leagues work together to recognize individual and team stat categories
- Member Leagues work together on creating a point system that rewards teams within league and recognizes team point leaders
- Member Leagues work together to honor interleague play and recognize efforts of match-ups between members of sister Leagues (at this point, interleague points will be utilized to assist in the process of seeding for Alliance National Championships)
- Postseason berths for the Alliance Fastpitch National Championship events are distributed through championship play within the Member Leagues and must be EARNED through competitive play with equal opportunity for any team to compete
- Step One: You join a Member League and the Alliance Fastpitch in one easy transaction! The head coach joins the Alliance Fastpitch by becoming an annual member, registers the team and pays the associated coach and team fee. Click HERE to register.
- Step Two: Through the registration process, the head coach has the option to either add players and staff and pay for their registration OR invite players and staff to join the Alliance. Players and staff who are invited to join by a head coach will receive an email with a link that prompts them to register themselves and pay their players or coach fee.
No, The Alliance Fastpitch is neither a governing body nor an event company. The Alliance Fastpitch works with several associations and event companies. The Alliance Fastpitch is working with strategic partners (TCS, USA Softball and USSSA) to host The Alliance Fastpitch Championship Series and any additional Alliance events created.
The Alliance Fastpitch is owned by a combination of all participating Member Leagues, and a Board of Directors from various travel organizations, past players, and key softball industry experts from all over the nation. The Alliance Fastpitch operates in cooperation and guidance from major softball associations such as USSSA, USA Softball, Triple Crown, and other local organizations. There are over 50 combined members involved in the Alliance and Member Leagues. No one entity is permitted to own more than 25% of The Alliance Fastpitch and voting is distributed across all entities to allow for balanced representation.
Alliance Fastpitch membership & benefits
Teams who want an opportunity to compete against top competition with equal opportunity to win berths dependent on their actual play. Teams are rewarded for their play on the field. Additionally, by joining a Member League, the athletes and coaches on the team will enjoy the membership benefits of The Alliance Fastpitch and have access to a viable fastpitch network.
Teams pay a membership fee to the Member League you are in to help cover administrative and operations cost for that League.
In addition, all individual athletes and individual coaches will pay their own individual membership fee to The Alliance Fastpitch for the given season. The member benefits included in this fee are explained below.
Coach membership fees are $60 for the year and inclusive of participant insurance, background checks, and all membership benefits. Athlete membership fees are $50 for 14U/16U/18U athletes and $35 for 12U athletes. They are inclusive of participant insurance and all membership benefits. The biggest difference for 12U are the recruiting membership benefits as these athletes are not old enough to receive those benefits. Starting in the 2023 Season, 10U athlete membership fees are free and included with a team membership.
Head Coaches are able to register and pay for both their own coach membership fee and the team fee together. Head Coaches are able to pay for athletes on their teams or coaches can invite players and assistant coaches to Join the Alliance and athletes and assistant coaches will register and pay their own membership fees.
Alliance Fastpitch Membership:
All athletes and coaches who are on the roster of a League team will be required to become members of The Alliance. This individual membership includes general liability insurance through Players Health that covers the individual and team in practice and games. Additionally, coaches and athletes will have member-only access to various resources, events, and partner offers.
In order to play in Alliance and League Post Season Play, all individuals on the roster must be registered with the Alliance Fastpitch. Memberships will need to be renewed annually by teams, athletes and coaches.
Alliance registration includes participant insurance through Players Health. Teams Can request COIs directly from the Alliance/Players Health once they have a minimum of 9 players on their Alliance roster. This insurance is generally accepted at all tournaments but please confirm with the individual event host. Some associations may require their own insurance for National events.
Membership Benefits:
- Annual access to the Alliance Fastpitch Community & Network!
- Opportunity to earn a berth to the AFCS
- Monthly & Annual Player and Coach Recognition
- Participant insurance through Players Health
- 50% discount of NCSA Team Edition & NCSA recruiting services
- Exclusive discounts on equipment, apparel, & footwear from Alliance Partners
- Exclusive discounts to athlete/coach resources such as High Level Throwing, Vizual Edge, Always Grind
- Exclusive access & discounts to instruction and training platforms such as Versus
Click HERE to view all athlete, coach and team membership benefits.
Memberships for The Alliance Fastpitch are currently for athletes and coaches who are participating on a team registered with a Member League.
More info to come here!
Registrations and memberships are per season. The season runs from September 1st to August 31st of the next year. Your insurance coverage is good for the same term. Teams, athletes and coaches will all have to re-register the next season.
Individual memberships for both athletes and coaches can be viewed HERE. Alliance memberships offer individuals exclusive access and discounts to our partners, who are experts in their particular area. The Alliance prides itself on delivering the top brands, programs, and resources to our members. Resources they need in their youth softball and player development journey.
Players do not need to re-register for the Alliance or Member League if they switch teams. Contact Shannon Harvey with the name of the team you are leaving and the team you are joining to have your information switched.
Athletes are attached to the Team in the Member League they register for. If an athlete changes teams, then the Head Coach will need to contact a League Administrator to add the new player to his/her roster. Athletes would not have to pay any additional fees.
Yes, all of your personal information is secure via iSportz. One of the big reasons why The Alliance Fastpitch and Member Leagues chose to use the iSportz platform was the safety of personal information and payment processing.
Registration Process
Click HERE to register your team
A head coach has the ability to register and pay for coaches, team fee and players in one seamless transaction.
- Step One: You join a Member League and the Alliance Fastpitch in one easy transaction! The head coach joins the Alliance Fastpitch by becoming an annual member, registers the team and pays the associated coach and team fee. Click HERE to register.
- Step Two: Through the registration process, the head coach has the option to either add players and staff and pay for their registration OR invite players and staff to join the Alliance. Players and staff who are invited to join by a head coach will receive an email with a link that prompts them to register themselves and pay their players or coach fee.
Head coaches will pay their own individual coach membership fee and the team membership fee. The head coach also has the option to pay for any athlete fees. Or individual athletes and individual assistant coaches can pay their own membership fee. The 2023 Membership fees are below. This is an annual fee good through August 14, 2023.
Team Membership Fee:
10U/12U: $100
14U/16U/18U: $200
Individual Player Membership Fee:
10U: $0
12U: $35
14U/16U/18U: $50
Coach Membership Fee:
$60
Yes. Alliance Membership is required for all coaches and athletes participating in any Alliance National Event which includes the AFCS, Super Cup Series, and Open National.
No. The Alliance fee is paid only one time per coach or player.
As the head coach is creating his or her account and registering his or her team, the head coach can follow the prompts to invite players to join the Alliance. This is all done while registering on our platform HERE
To add or remove a player to your roster, please reach out to [email protected]
If a coach or a player switch to another Alliance team during the year, it is not required to pay any fees again. Please reach out to [email protected] and request to be moved to the new roster.
Yes, log in by going to https://thealliancefastpitch.leagueapps.com/login. Everyone with an account can login to access their dashboard and make any edits to their information.
Team Info For Playing In Member Leagues
The head coach will register a team for the Member League your team resides in. See Member League map HERE
If teams traditionally play schedules in a region outside of their assigned League, then they can submit that information to The Alliance in their appeal to register for a different Member League. The Alliance Fastpitch and Member League Leadership have created an ‘appeal process’ for teams wishing to play in a Member League outside of their Member League territory. Teams will have to apply and get signed approval from each Member League Commissioner.
Any team within the 10U to 18U age division can join a Member League.
The amount of points up for grabs is based on the win probability of the game. If you are expected to win (i.e. your team has a higher rating than your opponent) you will receive less points for a win. If you are expected to lose, but end up winning, you will receive more points for a win.
Outside of Member League Championship events, most tournaments are existing events from various sanctioned event hosts or are in partnership with an association or event company. Teams can find out what events have points by visiting Member League websites. The goal for each Member League is not to change team’s normal schedules but rather to enhance the events teams are playing in by adding point values and purpose of play. In many Member Leagues, teams can earn points by matching up against another League team in a game that plays to a winner. Teams should refer to Member League rules for schedules and point systems.
Yes, you can play up in age divisions and still earn points.
We will be tracking non-alliance teams in alliance sanctioned events throughout the season based on their AGL Id. When you score your game in AGL be sure to always enter your opponents AGL ID if they have one. If they don't, we will treat your opponent as a 1600 rating.
Each Member League will have a list of teams on their League website. This list of teams, per age division, will be public. Additionally, we are working with our stats provider to include the information on whether or not a team is part of a Member League. Some Leagues are working with Event Hosts to include the League membership behind the team name on the schedule. Please contact your specific Member League for more information.
Championship events for Member Leagues and The Alliance Fastpitch will use USA Softball rules. Events within Member League Schedules will follow the official rules of the sponsoring tournament (i.e. USSSA playing rules will be used for USSSA sanctioned events).
Age eligibility for play in Member Leagues will follow USA Softball guidelines. Below is USA Softball’s age calculation for the 2023 Season.
- 10-Under Age Classification. A player born after December 31, 2011 is ELIGIBLE.
- 12-Under Age Classification. A player born after December 31, 2009 is ELIGIBLE.
- 14-Under Age Classification. A player born after December 31, 2007 is ELIGIBLE.
- 16-Under Age Classification. A player born after December 31, 2005 is ELIGIBLE.
- 18-Under Age Classification. A player born after December 31, 2003 is ELIGIBLE.
| AGE GROUP | |||||
| 18 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 10 | |
| YEAR OF BIRTH | |||||
| 2004 | Eligible | ||||
| 2005 | Eligible | ||||
| 2006 | Eligible | Eligible | |||
| 2007 | Eligible | Eligible | |||
| 2008 | Eligible | Eligible | Eligible | ||
| 2009 | Eligible | Eligible | Eligible | ||
| 2010 | Eligible | Eligible | Eligible | Eligible | |
| 2011 | Eligible | Eligible | Eligible | Eligible | |
| 2012 | Eligible | Eligible | Eligible | Eligible | Eligible |
| 2013 | Eligible | Eligible | Eligible | Eligible | Eligible |
| 2014-2022 | Eligible | Eligible | Eligible | Eligible | Eligible |
Interleague Play
Interleague play in The Alliance Fastpitch refers to games played between teams in different Member Leagues. Interleague points will be tracked and used as one criteria in final seedings for The Alliance Fastpitch Championship Series. Points from interleague play should not affect your rankings/total points within your Member League.
Member Teams that compete against Member Teams from opposing leagues, or Alliance Interleague Play, will earn Alliance Power Points “APP.” Anytime a team from one league plays against a team from another league there will be APP points awarded.
See below for specific information on the APP Point System.
APP Point System:
- 3 Points for a win if the Road team wins
- 2 Points for a win if the Home team wins
- 1 Point for a loss
If the Interleague game is played on “Neutral Ground” example CFL vs TFL in Oklahoma (HFL country) that would be considered “Neutral.” The points would be awarded like:
2 Points for a win
1 Point for a loss
APP points will be used when your team reaches The Alliance Fastpitch Championship Series to help the Seeding Committee determine the Top 16 seeds that will secure the top regional seeds. APP points will be cumulative throughout the playing season.
There will be a place on the Alliance website where teams can see the National Leaders in APP points.
Each Member League will host their own Championship event(s), typically Fall and Summer. Point totals from the season will seed teams into Member League Championships. Winners and top finishing teams at Member League Championships will have the opportunity to earn a berth to The Alliance Championship event. Total berths awarded will be determined by Member Leagues based on their total allotment from The Alliance Fastpitch.
The Alliance Fastpitch will host a National culminating event at the end of the Summer for qualifying teams. Teams will have to earn a berth to this event by winning berths through Member League play. Member Leagues are awarded a total number of berths from The Alliance Fastpitch for the Alliance’s National Championship event. Each Member League will award those berths to teams through their League Championships. All berths will be earned in competitive play.
Championships will have a total of 96 teams. The 96 berths are divided amongst the Member Leagues and the Member Leagues will assign those berths to Championship Events.
Day 1 and 2 will consist of regional brackets and will determine which super regional championship teams will fall into.
Each Member League will have their own set of rules, however, teams who earn a berth will not be paired up against teams who have not earned a berth in Championship play. In some situations, Qualified teams will play in a separate pool and matched up in the final bracket of Summer Championship play as long as it does not take away berths from non-qualified teams.
Insurance & Background Screening Questions
Alliance Registration includes participant insurance through Players Health. Teams can request COIs directly from Alliance/Players Health once they have a minimum of 9 players on their roster. Players Health covers all rostered players and coaches -- meaning players on the roster who have registered and paid for their Alliance membership.
This insurance will be accepted at the majority of tournaments within League Schedules. Some associations may require additional insurance or other items. We recommend coaches always consult with the tournament host.
Coverages extends to the team as an insured entity if all team members register individually. As long as everyone (all coaches and athletes on the roster) that is part of a team is registered through The Alliance Fastpitch individually, then that team would be able to get the additional insured certificates that is required to practice at most facilities.
No, Alliance Fastpitch membership no longer includes USA Softball membership.
If a team would like to register with USA Softball and/or purchase USA Softball insurance then the team needs to reach out to their Local USA Softball Association HERE.
No. If a coach would like to purchase a USA Softball background screening, then the coach needs to reach out to his/her Local USA Softball Association.
However, a background screening through Players Health is included in the 2023 Alliance Membership for all registered coaches.
Yes, Alliance Coach Membership includes coach background screenings through Players Health.
Coaches will have to purchase additional screenings for USA Softball sanctioned tournaments. Teams that register with USSSA will have to purchase an additional background screening through USSSA as well.
If you need to a Certificate of Insurance (COI) or need to add an additional insured, please email [email protected]
Insurance is an included membership benefit with your individual Alliance Membership, as well as many additional membership benefits associated with Alliance Membership. This will allow you to play in the majority of tournaments within League schedules and will allow you the coverage you need for the AFCS and AFON.
If you have already purchased additional team insurance from another association, this will not affect your Alliance Membership.
A link will be sent by Players Health to each coach who registers with The Alliance Fastpitch. This link will have instructions for the coach on how to take his or her background check. If you have not received this link, please contact [email protected].
Teams and participants can contact [email protected] for any questions about their Players Health insurance included with their Alliance Fastpitch membership.
The Alliance Fastpitch & Member League Contact Info and Processes
The first contact should always be the Member League Commissioner or appointed League contact. If a dispute is unable to be handled at the Member League level, then the Commissioner and League Leadership should submit to The Alliance Fastpitch leadership. If the dispute involves the Leadership of a Member League, then the head coach can send the dispute to [email protected] for review.
The majority of events you will play in as a member of a Member League will be operated by an association or event host. In those events, teams will abide by that event’s rules of play and processes. Therefore, any coach, parent and/or athlete disputes would be handled with the Tournament Director of that event.
If there is a conduct issue with a coach, parent, official and/or athlete during a Member League Championship, then the head coach should contact the Championship Director for that event.
If there is a conduct issue with a coach, parent, official and/or athlete during an Alliance Fastpitch Championship Series event, then the head coach should contact the Championship Director for that event.
The Alliance Fastpitch provides oversight and guidance to Member Leagues and also has contractual guidelines outlining what it means for Member Leagues to be in good standing. If it appears that a Member League is not in good standing, then The Alliance Fastpitch will do its due diligence in working with The Member League and stepping in when needed to adhere to our principles and core values.
Pacific Coast Fastpitch League: Shannon Harvey
Heart of America Fastpitch League: Cornelius Davis
Northeast Fastpitch League: Dave Sharp
Rocky Mountain Fastpitch League: Chris Salvaggi
Southeast Fastpitch League: Jen Carden
Texas Fastpitch League: Kevin Shelton
Northwest Fastpitch League: Jordan Schilling
Atlantic Coast Fastpitch League: Tom Bunn
Alliance Fastpitch: Shannon Harvey
Pacific Coast Fastpitch League: Mike Stith
Heart of America Fastpitch League: Ryan Taylor
Northeast Fastpitch League: Adam Dorman
Rocky Mountain Fastpitch League: Randy Gale
Southeast Fastpitch League: Jeremy & Jill Higdon
Texas Fastpitch League: David McCorkle
Northwest Fastpitch League: Joe Breer
Atlantic Coast Fastpitch League: Ryan Taylor/Tom Bunn
