Austin, TX
Meet the Texas Smoke, Austin’s new pro softball team
Janae Jefferson, then taking part in with the Texas Longhorns, takes a swing in the course of the nationwide softball championships final June in Oklahoma Metropolis. Picture: Isaiah Vazquez/NCAA Images by way of Getty Pictures
A former main league baseball participant and knowledgeable wrestler are teaming as much as carry a professional softball franchise to Austin.
Driving the information: The Texas Smoke would be the fourth franchise in Ladies’s Skilled Fastpitch.
- The league replaces Nationwide Professional Fastpitch, which shuttered in 2021 after 20 years attributable to COVID-induced monetary losses.
- The opposite present groups within the league are in Viera, Fla.; Oklahoma Metropolis; and Rochester, N.Y.
What’s taking place: The squad is owned by (married couple) former Cincinnati Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips and professional wrestler Jade Cargill.
Particulars: Former College of Texas softball participant and 2022 World Video games gold medalist Janae Jefferson was the primary participant introduced for the Smoke, signed to the crew as a free agent.
- Different Austin connections embrace therapist Jess Garza because the crew’s psychological efficiency advisor.
- Austinite {and professional} baseball outfielder Courtney Hawkins would be the assistant basic supervisor.
- Austin-based athletic coach Cullen Nigrini is crew’s chief medical officer.
Hutto-based company The Neighborhood Manufacturing facility may also oversee the crew’s model and sponsorship partnerships.
What they’re saying: “These gamers are superb athletes, and we are going to carry them a brand new stage of help to assist them hone their craft,” Phillips stated in a press release.
Between the strains: A bunch of ladies’s start-up groups have taken root in Austin recently, however frisbee, curler derby, soccer and soccer groups have nonetheless had hassle discovering audiences or producing income.
- A crew spokesperson advised Axios the Smoke is “nonetheless finalizing the contract for the place they are going to be taking part in residence video games.”
💭 Our thought bubble: With its season not beginning till June, the professional crew may piggy-back off the spring success of the College of Texas Longhorns softball crew, which was ranked sixth in no less than one pre-season ballot.