The Cape Cod League, the New England Collegiate League, the Coastal Plain League, and many others have supplied ample opportunities for collegiate baseball athletes to hone their craft during the off-season/summer months. For the first time, that opportunity now will extend to collegiate softball athletes.
The Florida Gulf Coast League that launched their own collegiate baseball league last summer announced last week their intentions to offer softball in the summer of 2020. The league will be the first of its kind to allow collegiate players a 30 game schedule from the first of June to the first of July along with training facilities and opportunities to prepare for their next collegiate season.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled at starting a league specific to college softball players,” said FGCL Executive Director Ryan Moore. “Softball continues to grow and we want to be part of that. These athletes have never had the opportunity like this and we, as a board, are committed to them and growing the game.”
The league is expected to consist of 10 teams located in the Tampa Bay area stretching from Clearwater south to Sarasota. The FGCL has already announced the first six members of the league and they include the Bradenton Slice, Manatee Squeeze, IA Lions, SUA Pioneers, Myakka City River Mocs, and Bradenton Lynx.
The Slice have already made big news within softball circles naming National Championship and Hall of Fame Coach Bob Brock formerly of Texas A&M their field skipper for 2020. The league will also feature an All-Star Game and Parents Weekend during the season that allows for the best of the league to square off.
Each team will allow for 16 athletes per roster consisting of collegiate players from throughout the country. The league will also allow each franchise to select two graduated high school seniors to their roster.
Executive Board Member, long-time collegiate coach, and softball philanthropist Lee Dobbins believes the league will revolutionize development of athletes and the sport, “The Florida Gulf Coast League will finally give collegiate softball players the opportunity to further develop their skills each summer through training, instruction from top coaches, and in-game competition against other great athletes. This can only improve the collegiate product giving athletes that choose to compete in the league a leg-up once they return to their collegiate programs.”
Registration is now open for Florida Gulf Coast League Softball and can be found on the league website, www.flgulfcoastleague.com