Rosemont named AUSL host city, home of the Chicago Bandits

Athletes Unlimited Softball League Commissioner Kim Ng remembers sitting in an office at Parkway Bank Sports Complex some two and a half hours before a game last season, looking out at Jennie Finch Way, and watching the line to get into the stadium form down the block.

“Moments like that, you have an understanding of the resonance of what we're providing, of what the athletes are providing,” Ng said in a phone interview, “it really holds in that community.”

The AUSL is entering a new phase, after barnstorming across the country for its inaugural season. On Tuesday, it announced the home cities for its six teams. Parkway Bank Sports Complex will again host AUSL games, now serving as the home of the Chicago Bandits.

In addition to Rosemont, AUSL teams are putting down roots in Durham, North Carolina (Carolina Blaze); Oklahoma City (Oklahoma City Spark); Hillsboro, Oregon (Portland Cascade); Round Rock, Texas (Texas Volts); and Salt Lake City (Utah Talons).

Rosemont’s relationship with Athletes Unlimited softball predates the formation of AUSL. When AU po softball launched in 2020 with an intriguing individual scoring model, Parkway Bank Sports Complex served as host.

When Athletes Unlimited shifted to a more traditional team format last year, Rosemont’s AUSL hosting schedule included marquee events like opening day and a majority of the All-Star Cup.

The return of the Chicago Bandits also ties the new venture to the site’s history with the now-defunct National Pro Fastpitch team by the same name.

Finch, an Olympic gold and silver medalist and the namesake of the street outside the Ballpark at Rosemont, played for that iteration of the Bandits from 2005 to 2010. She now serves as an AUSL advisor.

“It's been amazing in my experience to work with her over the years, but in particular, watching her really lean in hard into AUSL,” Ng said. “And lean in, in ways that we hadn't necessarily anticipated, we hadn't necessarily planned for. Everything from the design phase of the league, of the way that we govern, the system that we put together; to the appearances, to being a part of opening day, to speaking to the current athletes and understanding what their place is in the softball universe, to just providing support and enthusiasm over social.”

When the AUSL named one of its original teams the Bandits, it seemed likely that the Chicago area would be chosen as a more permanent host. But the announcement Tuesday solidified Rosemant’s place in the budding league.

“We want to become pillars of these communities,” Ng said. “And when I say communities, it's larger than that. It's, of these areas and regions where people know the brand of softball that they're going to be watching, and that they're going to be traveling for, and that they're going to be putting on their schedules for.”

The AUSL regular season schedule is set to run from June 9 to July 20. The Bandits are scheduled to open the season on the road, returning to Rosemont for their home opener on June 13 against the OKC Spark. They’ll finish the season at Parkway Bank Sports Complex, hosting the Utah Talons July 18-19.

Rosemont has also been named the venue for the mid-season All-Star Cup Aug. 8-30.