Playtime is what most baseball and softball players want. This depends on the various championships and their number of matchdays, but also the often non-extensible budget of clubs that enter a team in such or such competition. The women’s softball super league is one of those competitions that everyone agrees on this famous improved playtime.
In addition to traditional championships, each of the selected players will be able to play numerous matches over six weekends. Last weekend saw the second matchday of this unique gathering. Organized on the beautiful field of Évry, the festivities of this competition were on display. The public, the viewers were there. There was even a home run derby organized with volunteers from the public to liven up the intermissions.
Axelle Chiapasco
Don’t expect to see traditional matches. In addition to the draft (random selection) of players with captains designated by the individual standings after the first weekend, you could see colorful inning starts with players on base, number of outs made, etc.
The final score and the team’s win become secondary in this context, and the beauty and success of the games more important, allowing players to boost their playtime counter. After two weekends, Prapeng de Ridder, Pauline Prade, and Axelle Chiapasco hold the top three spots.
The festive atmosphere is clearly on display and this is evident in the broadcasts. You can clearly see the joy of playing, and the captains are given unusual roles since they coach teammates they don’t know perfectly. They have to follow rules to set up a line-up and find short-term strategies to both make the team win collectively but also the individual players. It’s always difficult to communicate via signs when you don’t know each other well. On Sunday, the coaches joined the competition. For them too, it’s always a discovery of their players, 3 out of 4 coaches are those of the France 18U Softball team.
The most surprising thing is the starting theme of each inning: bases loaded or full count or runner on second or third. The stress is immediately on the start of the inning and requires reactivity from everyone.
We can already measure the success of this competition format, which serves the high level and the pleasure of spectators and viewers. No dead time, lots of play with pressure and quite changing momentum.
The broadcasts are successful and the post-match interviews of the champions or MVPs are interesting. It’s much easier to follow when a commentator is present and when the wind or the public doesn’t take over the sound. It’s a shame, however, that the platform chosen for the broadcasts is on Facebook, which greatly reduces visibility unlike YouTube.
Note that the MVPs of the matches are elected by the public and the viewers.
The next weekend is scheduled for July 1st and 2nd. We can already bet that this competition will surely take off in the coming seasons.
