The Alliance Fastpitch and American Collegiate League Join Forces

The Alliance Fastpitch and American Collegiate League Join Forces

The Alliance Fastpitch and American Collegiate League are joining forces to provide more organized opportunities for fastpitch athletes and demonstrate both organizations desire to grow fastpitch through collaboration and an athlete-first approach. The two national organizations will work together to demonstrate a clear pathway to play for athletes at both the amateur and collegiate level. 

The American Collegiate League (ACL) is a national network of summer collegiate leagues for college softball players. The ACL currently has four leagues under its national umbrella that will compete in Summer 2023 including the Florida Gulf Coast League (Lakewood Ranch, FL), Heartland Collegiate League (Omaha, NE), Music City Collegiate League (Nashville, TN), and the Vegas Collegiate League (Las Vegas, NV). Additional regional locations are already targeted for Summer 2024. 

ACL Executive Director Ryan Moore initially created the Florida Gulf Coast League in 2020, modeled after his Florida Gulf Coast Collegiate Baseball League. Moore believed he could offer the same infrastructure and opportunities for college softball players. After three successful seasons with the FGCL which has offered opportunities to hundreds of softball players, Moore is scaling the FGCL model to destination locations to provide more opportunities for college softball players under one uniform network – the ACL. 

“The American Collegiate League is proud to align with the Alliance Fastpitch organization to encourage all softball athletes at all ages to prepare for their college experience,” said Moore.  “Summer collegiate softball is one way to grow your personal game to levels and ceilings never reached before.   With the alignment with Alliance Fastpitch, the pathway has been formed to reach all levels of softball from youth and now to collegiate. This formation shows a viable highway for success and total growth of the game which we are all striving for.”

The Alliance Fastpitch has become the centralized hub for youth teams, coaches and athletes who want to compete on a regional and national level. Launched in 2020, the Alliance Fastpitch created eight regional leagues for 10U to 18U teams. Youth teams compete in their regional Member League to earn points and rankings through the Alliance Rating System and to earn a berth to the Alliance Fastpitch Championship Series (AFCS). 

“A clear pathway to play is important for youth softball players,” said Jami Lobpries, Alliance Fastpitch CEO. “We want to support athletes and their families through their entire competitive softball journey which includes starting in our league system as a pathway to play in college. By joining forces with the American Collegiate League, we can also show these young players there are organized opportunities for them to keep developing throughout their college careers. I’m excited to work with Ryan and the ACL regional leagues to connect our youth and college players, and to do some really creative, player-first experiences throughout the country!”

The Alliance Fastpitch will promote the ACL to its current youth membership. Athletes competing in the Member Leagues of the Alliance Fastpitch often aspire to play in college. The ACL provides these same athletes with a platform to compete in the summers between their college seasons. Players might need extra reps for development, might be transferring schools or moving from a two-year to four-year institution, or they may just want to experience playing with their peers in destination locations across the country. The ACL Leagues provide them a home for quality competition and continued instruction. 

Together, the Alliance Fastpitch and American Collegiate League are helping carve a clear pathway in fastpitch softball. Both organizations will work together to promote competition and to recognize the players competing in their respective leagues. The two organizations will continue to collaborate on additional events, experiences, and partnerships. 

To learn more about the American Collegiate League, visit www.AmericanCollegiateLeague.com. And to learn more about the Alliance Fastpitch visit www.thealliancefastpitch.com.