New pro softball league announces first group of players, coaches, general managers

Athletes Unlimited Softball League announced its inaugural group of coaches and general managers on Monday, three days after the fledgling pro league announced its initial class of nine players.

The group is a who's-who of softball stars who made a national impact as amateur players before embarking on their coaching careers.

Lisa Fernandez, Cat Osterman, Dana Sorenson, and Jenny Dalton-Hill will serve as GMs, while Howard Dobson, Stacey Nuveman-Deniz, Kelly Kretschman, and Alisa Goler were named head coaches for the league that begins play in May 2025.

The league will feature four teams competing in a 30-game season with games in 6-8 different touring cities next year. The AUSL will become a city-based league beginning in 2026. The inaugural player pool added its first nine names Friday:

• Dejah Mulipola
• Carley Hoover
• Jessi Warren
• Anissa Urtez
• Morgan Zerkle
• Jordan Roberts
• Erin Coffel
• Payton Gottshall
• Kayla Kowalik

Armed with a television contract with ESPN and an experienced advisor in former Miami Marlins general manager Kim Ng, the league's rise coincides with the return of softball to the Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.

Ng told The Athletic on Monday that the league aims to become “Major League Baseball for softball.”

“Being a woman who has fought for other women in sports, and now to have the opportunity to be someone on the inside fighting for women’s sports, that’s really cool,” Ng told Noah Furtado.

ESPN will carry at least 18 AUSL games exclusively on its platforms in 2025.

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