Softball Australia is pleased to release the official Draws for the 2022 National Championships.

The release of the Draws marks an important milestone for the National Championships, as it allows states and venues to begin planning for the event in earnest.

Softball Australia acting National Events Manager Kyira Cox said, “Creating the Draws is always a significant logistical undertaking. It involves feedback from the host venue, the participating states, the officials, and Softball Australia. We also need to consider the compressed timeframe, the COVID environment, and the overall objective to get our members participating in Softball at a National level.

“Every effort has been made to accommodate these factors, and we think we’ve put together Draws that will deliver a showcase product at each event. It also makes the Nationals seem real – teams can begin planning their game and tournament strategy, and host states can ready their venues.”

The Draw also attempts to balance double headers, game breaks, and the opening and final time-slots across the first three days of competition. In some states, daylight conditions also had to be taken into consideration on diamonds, while due to the compressed schedule, some teams may also play three games per day.

• Click here to see the Open Women’s Draw
• Click here to see the Open Men’s Draw
• Click here to see the U23 Women’s Draw
• Click here to see the U23 Men’s Draw
• Click here to see the U18 Women’s Draw
• Click here to see the U18 Men’s Draw
• Click here to see the U16 Women’s Draw
• Click here to see the U16 Men’s Draw
• Click here to see the U14 Girls Draw
• Click here to see the U14 Boys Draw

Please note, game times and venues are subject to change. Every effort will be made to update participants should a game time and venue change.

In the Open Championships, a 2020 grand final rematch between defending champions NSW Firestars and the SA Starz opens the Gilles Shield in Round 1. The 2020 John Reid Shield grand final replay takes place on day 2, when ACT and NSW clash at 1:30pm.

For the Open Men and Women, the National Championship are also an important step in the path towards National selection.

The Aussie Spirit will compete at the World Games in Birmingham in July, while the Aussie Steelers make a long-awaited return to international competition at the WBSC World Cup in Auckland in December.

The U23 Men’s Championship is also a selection event for the first-ever Australian U23 Men’s team, that will participate at the U23 Men’s World Cup in Argentina.

2022 will be the first time many Under-16 players and all Under 14 players participate at Nationals, after the event was postponed in 2021 and Regional Championships were played in 2020.

The Under-14s finals is a double elimination format, with any team able to win through to the Championship game from as low as 6^th position.

Image courtesy Change of Focus Photography