Olympians set to star in second Athletes Unlimited softball season, WBSC to live-stream eight games on Facebook
After a very successful inaugural season, the 2021 Athletes Unlimited softball competition is set to open on Saturday 28 at Parkway Bank Sports Complex in the Village of Rosemont, Illinois, with the participation of 22 Olympians and 12 medallist at Tokyo 2020. A total of six games will be played across the inaugural weekend.
USA Tokyo 2020 silver medallists Ali Aguilar, Amanda Chidester, Haylie McCleney, Michelle Moultrie, Dejah Mulipola, Aubree Munro, Cat Osterman, Janie Reed and Kelsey Stewart will play the one-month long season, joined by Canadians Sara Groenewegen, Kelsey Harshman and Victoria Hayward, recent Olympic bronze medal winners.
Tokyo 2020 Olympians Taylor McQuillin, Danielle O’Toole, Sashel Palacios, Sydney Romero, Amanda Sanchez, Anissa Urtez and Tori Vidales, who all represented Mexico; Greta Cecchetti and Erika PIancastelli who played for Italy, will also be part of the second season. Netherlands’ veteran Britt Vonk, who played with the orange team at Beijing 2008, completes the list of Olympians.
Returning champion Osterman will captain the gold team this week. The three returning medalists from Season 1: Jessie Warren (Orange), Hayward (Blue) and Piancastelli (Purple) will also captain teams during Week 1. During the draft held this past Tuesday, the four captains selected their teammates for the first weekend.
Fans around the world will be able to watch eight games of the Athletes Unlimited season through the WBSC Facebook Page, including the inaugural game on Saturday at 4 pm ET. The full list of games is:
- Game 1 - Aug 28, 4pm ET
- Game 7 - Sep 4, 4pm ET
- Game 13 - Sep 11, 1pm ET
- Game 15 - Sep 12, 4pm ET
- Game 19 - Sep 18, 4pm ET
- Game 20 - Sep 18 7pm ET
- Game 24 - Sep 25 1pm ET
- Game 25 - Sep 25, 4pm ET
Athletes Unlimited announced the addition of international broadcast partners ESPN International, FreeSports, TSN and W-Sport for its second softball season. The international networks complement previously announced partners CBS Sports Network, Fox Sports, Fox Deportes (Spanish), Facebook and YouTube, and will allow Athletes Unlimited Softball to be viewed in 123 territories across in two languages.
The competition format is centred on the player’s performance, not the teams. During the games, players will get points for “winning” each inning, and also for each of their individual statistics. When games are over, three MVPs will be chosen and awarded points.
Tickets are on sale here.