For Immediate Release
Contact: Walker Jones (walker.jones@threestep.com)
WILMINGTON, MA (MARCH 21, 2022) – 3STEP Sports, the nation’s largest and most impactful youth sports ecosystem, has added the New England Fast Pitch Softball League to the Select brand. The league will begin its inaugural season in April as the Select Softball League.
3STEP Sports’ softball director Kristi Stefanoni will serve as league commissioner. The league is the first of its kind and will enhance travel ball throughout the region while bolstering 3STEP’s growing softball division.
Stefanoni has longtime ties to premier softball within the region, spending 15 years at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst as both a player and coach, including eight years as the head coach. Stefanoni oversees Select Softball, which also operates recruiting combines and tournament showcases throughout the country.
“It’s an honor and a privilege to be named the commissioner of the league,” Stefanoni said. “To have a softball league like this in the New England area can do really great things for the players.”
The Select Softball League was created by Prospects Athletics as the NEFPSL and features 20 teams throughout New England in highly competitive divisions across the 10U, 12U and 14U levels. The league is modeled after the Select Baseball League, New England’s most competitive baseball league that includes more than 100 club programs. Select is New England’s premier diamond sports event operator.
Jack Sweeney, director of business operations at Prospects Athletics, played a vital role in conceptualizing and building NEFPSL and will remain as the operations lead of the Select Softball League. Prospect Athletics joined 3STEP in February.
The Select Softball League will feature two months of regular season games, followed by bracket-style postseason play. The schedule culminates with the league championships in Manchester, NH, on June 4-5.
“What’s going to set us apart is what we cultivate here at 3TEP and within Select Softball,” Stefanoni said. “I think it’s going to cultivate a lot of great competition, a family atmosphere, a growth and development atmosphere. It’s not going to be something you sign up for, play on the weekend and then just leave.”
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To learn more about 3STEP Sports, visit threestep.com.
For more on the Select Softball League, go to selectsoftballleague.com.
