Copyright Sports Illustrated
After the inaugural season of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) concluded with 24 games touring 10 different cities, the major question has been, where will the four current teams, the Bandits, Blaze, Talons, and Volts, stay permanently? In an Instagram post recapping the historic summer, the general manager of the Bandits, Jenny Dalton-Hill, dropped the biggest news of all. Chicago and Parkway Bank Sports Complex will officially be home to the team in 2026. Not only did she drop the location of the Bandits, but she also gave insight that two new teams will be joining the league, as well as a new roster, head coach, and staff for the Bandits. “Year two is shaping up to be much different,” Dalton-Hill stated in the post. “We will have a new head coach and staff. We will have a new roster. There will be 2 new teams in the league. Our Bandits team will be based out of Chicago. I’m excited to get to the draft and create our next roster. About half of our players will be new, and there will be many new faces in the league. I never could have dreamed that I would be able to live this life and enjoy this game for so long. I am grateful to still be involved and have a voice shaping our sport and affecting the future of the game.” Head coach Stacey Nuveman Deniz led the Bandits all the way to the championship series in July, but fell to the Talons in a heartbreaking 1-0 matchup. The team finished with a 15-9 record with standouts like AUSL MVP and Hitter of the Year Erin Coffel and veteran Taylor McQuillin. Athletes Unlimited has been running annual softball events out of Parkway Bank Sports Complex for five years now, and the AUSL has fed into the fan support given at the stadium. The Bandits have been a beloved softball franchise, with a deep following and great history across the softball universe and in Chicago, as the team name stems from the late National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) league. AUSL has reintroduced this franchise and has welcomed a new generation of fans and players. While it's unclear at the moment who would become the head coach or why Nuveman Deniz won’t be in the position, her head coaching job at San Diego State may be the primary focus. “My reflection on the season is that we have so much to be proud of and absolutely no reason to hang our heads,” Nuveman Deniz, who coached the Chicago Bandits to the championship series in 2018 told Bruce Miles of the AUSL. “Obviously, losing on the final day is disappointing. We had had a chance in both games, plenty of chances to score and to win. We just couldn’t push it across. No official announcements have been made at this time as to what other teams will join the league, and what other cities could house the Blaze, Talons, and Volts. Venues during the inaugural season included Wichita, Kan., Tuscaloosa, Ala., Round Rock, Texas, Salt Lake City, Utah, Sulphur, La., Chattanooga, Tenn., Omaha, Neb., Raleigh, N.C., and Greenville, N.C.
