Abbreviation NSL Type Sports league Official language English | Formation 2009 Headquarters UK | |
The National Softball league or NSL is a co-ed slowpitch softball league created for the beginning of the 2009 British Slowpitch Season (April - September). The inaugural season had 14 teams compete in 3 qualifying events, as well as the Premier Nationals (the top sports championship in the UK).
The teams were:
The concept of the NSL is to improve the top level of co-ed slowpitch softball in the UK by exposing more players and teams to top level competition. Eventually, the NSL organisers hope to have a divisional structure, with promotion and relegation for teams that perform well or not so well.
The league's founders, Roger Grooms and Matthew Slorach, came up with the idea to link the already existing tournaments into a series, where points were awarded based on the finishing positions of teams at each event. The benefits of this series that have already been seen are 14 teams competing at the 2009 Premier Nationals (up from 7 teams at the 2008 A Nationals, which they replaced), increased interest from sponsors in the sport, and television coverage of the final at the Bristol tournament.
The hope for the 2010 season is to expand the NSL to 16 teams, potentially split into 2 divisions, based on the 2009 results.