USSSA Fastpitch - 2026 National Performance Report

National Overview

2026 Team Registrations

21,481

+10.4% from 2025

2026 Events

2,555

+11.1% from 2025

2026 Insurance

7,755

+7.2% from 2025

2027 Pipeline

13,624

Teams registered so far

4-Year National Trends

Team Registrations

18,807

2023

19,492

2024

19,451

2025

21,481

2026

Events

2,198

2023

2,353

2024

2,300

2025

2,555

2026

Team Entries

7,183

2023

7,375

2024

7,235

2025

7,755

2026

Insurance

7,183

2023

7,375

2024

7,235

2025

7,755

2026

State Performance Table

State	Money Person	Teams 2025	Teams 2026	YoY Change	YoY %	Events 2025	Events 2026	Entries 2025	Entries 2026	Entries YoY
FL	Gordon Patterson	1,283	1,356	+73	+5.7%	173	172	5,543	5,626	+83
IA	Central Iowa Sports - Fastpitch	1,200	1,315	+115	+9.6%	219	248	9,045	9,218	+173
IL-NORTH	Perry Clark	1,085	1,166	+81	+7.5%	69	95	2,081	2,615	+534
TX-SOUTH	Shannon Holland Gonzalez	389	1,025	+636	+163.5%	8	117	1,063	998	-65
IN	Tim Foster	952	1,009	+57	+6.0%	225	222	7,344	7,231	-113
AL	James Baker - State	632	899	+267	+42.2%	72	100	2,255	3,386	+1,131
OK	Big Show Productions	757	792	+35	+4.6%	77	90	3,156	3,393	+237
GA	Jerry Parham	668	753	+85	+12.7%	106	106	2,816	3,906	+1,090
LA	Cindi Hall	667	753	+86	+12.9%	103	109	4,111	4,283	+172
OH-NORTH	Ohio State Office - Mike Craig	607	690	+83	+13.7%	36	48	1,151	1,272	+121
KS	W-KAN USSSA	651	657	+6	+0.9%	72	77	4,239	4,733	+494
MI	Abe Vinitski	604	602	-2	-0.3%	32	39	3,234	3,423	+189
TX-WEST	Julie Rodriguez - FP	507	600	+93	+18.3%	44	48	464	225	-239
TX-NORTH	Darren Darracq	633	598	-35	-5.5%	61	45	1,938	1,476	-462
NY	Gary Godden	542	543	+1	+0.2%	50	54	1,213	1,261	+48
IL-SOUTH	Lori Strode	486	533	+47	+9.7%	71	87	2,144	2,609	+465
VA	Eddie Small	443	474	+31	+7.0%	33	40	3,126	4,094	+968
PA-EAST	Erich Lichtner	440	450	+10	+2.3%	32	27	551	474	-77
WA	Washington State Office	415	449	+34	+8.2%	49	56	34	36	+2
NM	Julie Rodriguez	454	446	-8	-1.8%	52	58	1,824	2,164	+340
MN	Mike Carter	386	439	+53	+13.7%	21	20	375	468	+93
NE	Brandon Schuur	386	439	+53	+13.7%	38	40	1,001	1,168	+167
TN	Ken Crook	335	415	+80	+23.9%	30	53	682	1,062	+380
NJ	Erich Lichtner	415	410	-5	-1.2%	79	65	1,765	1,518	-247
MO-EAST	Lori Strode	342	401	+59	+17.3%	36	42	155	185	+30
AR	Lance Nations	341	391	+50	+14.7%	27	48	721	1,224	+503
MO-WEST	W-KAN USSSA	365	383	+18	+4.9%	42	36	187	207	+20
CO	Melisa Goodard	208	362	+154	+74.0%	15	22	289	1,606	+1,317
KY	Tim Foster	373	362	-11	-2.9%	60	43	954	860	-94
CA	Robert Ribera	348	353	+5	+1.4%	37	40	631	688	+57
MD	East Coast Events	332	322	-10	-3.0%	38	39	576	500	-76
MS	Jeff Strode	336	315	-21	-6.2%	50	40	988	1,248	+260
PA-WEST	East Coast Events	267	258	-9	-3.4%	83	66	1,120	921	-199
NC	Rod Skinner	315	242	-73	-23.2%	35	31	2,153	3,274	+1,121
WI	Perry Clark	226	233	+7	+3.1%	3	4	1,830	2,204	+374
UT	Jerry Cordova-Ong- FP	255	190	-65	-25.5%	24	21	0	0	+0
OH-SOUTH	David C Maury	117	136	+19	+16.2%	7	11	192	298	+106
CT	Jim Sarantides	121	119	-2	-1.7%	13	16	256	294	+38
DE	East Coast Events	98	91	-7	-7.1%	18	18	375	420	+45
WY	Melisa Goodard	32	86	+54	+168.8%	1	6	0	0	+0
WV	East Coast Events	50	81	+31	+62.0%	0	0	182	306	+124
OR	Alexa Peterson	55	78	+23	+41.8%	3	6	36	126	+90
SD	HQ Fastpitch Director	54	72	+18	+33.3%	2	2	152	151	-1
AZ	Perry Clark	72	61	-11	-15.3%	0	0	0	0	+0
SC	HQ Fastpitch Director	112	34	-78	-69.6%	8	1	158	70	-88
MA	Jim Sarantides	14	21	+7	+50.0%	0	0	54	48	-6
NH	Jim Sarantides	16	17	+1	+6.2%	0	0	0	0	+0
ID	Jerry Cordova-Org	20	16	-4	-20.0%	0	0	0	0	+0
RI	East Coast Events	5	9	+4	+80.0%	0	0	0	0	+0
NV-LV	HQ Fastpitch Director	12	6	-6	-50.0%	1	0	28	0	-28
NV-STATE	Jerry Cordova-Ong	2	3	+1	+50.0%	0	0	0	0	+0
ME	Jim Sarantides	5	2	-3	-60.0%	0	0	0	1	+1
VT	Jim Sarantides	1	2	+1	+100.0%	0	0	0	1	+1
NATIONAL TOTAL		19,451	21,481	+2,030	+10.4%	2,300	2,555	78,129	88,143	+10,014

Growth Leaders — Top 10 by Team Registration Gain (2025 → 2026)

Texas

+618

Colorado

+148

Alabama

+133

Illinois

+88

Tennessee

+75

Georgia

+59

Ohio

+58

Wyoming

+54

Missouri

+44

Minnesota

+36

Areas of Concern — Largest Team Registration Declines

South Carolina

-78

New Mexico

-77

North Carolina

-74

Utah

-67

Iowa

-63

Oklahoma

-51

Louisiana

-38

Mississippi

-25

Kansas

-20

New Jersey

-17

Note: South Carolina (-78 teams), New Mexico, and North Carolina experienced the steepest declines. These markets may require targeted recovery strategies including director engagement, event scheduling reviews, and regional marketing support.

National Championship / World Series Participation

NC/WS/WFC Entries 2023

3,043

NC/WS/WFC Entries 2024

2,772

NC/WS/WFC Entries 2025

2,891

NC/WS/WFC Entries 2026

2,793

Out-of-State 2023

1,949

Out-of-State 2024

1,877

Out-of-State 2025

1,931

Out-of-State 2026

1,909

Top 10 States by NC/WS/WFC Entries (2026)

State	NC/WS 2023	NC/WS 2024	NC/WS 2025	NC/WS 2026	Out-of-State 2025	Out-of-State 2026
IL-North	259	282	330	338	291	303
Indiana	288	267	239	268	159	157
TX-South	78	41	72	148	72	113
Oklahoma	195	182	171	142	164	142
IL-South	90	109	116	116	80	76
TX-North	156	151	132	116	39	38
New Jersey	89	90	105	106	86	89
Kansas	120	101	111	103	44	29
Florida	78	94	100	91	24	21
PA-East	83	93	100	89	22	15

Active Directors

Director Pool Trend

380

2024

355

2025

356

2026

Top 10 States by Director Count (2026)

State	Directors 2024	Directors 2025	Directors 2026
Iowa	49	46	50
Illinois	45	44	39
Texas	25	26	25
Florida	21	20	19
Missouri	14	14	14
Colorado	4	6	13
Arkansas	10	11	13
Virginia	9	11	11
New York	10	8	11
Indiana	10	12	10

Key Takeaways

Fastpitch is surging with double-digit growth. Team registrations reached 21,481 in 2026, up +10.4% from 2025 and +14.2% from 2023 (18,807). This marks the strongest year-over-year growth in the four-year period.
Events and insurance are growing in lockstep. Events jumped +11.1% (2,300 to 2,555) and insurance rose +7.2% (7,235 to 7,755), confirming that the growth is broad-based and not concentrated in a single metric.
Texas is the breakout state of 2026. Texas added +618 team registrations (+40.4%), the largest gain of any state, driven by Shannon Holland Gonzalez's explosive growth in the south region.
Iowa remains the national leader with 1,315 team registrations (+9.6% YoY), 9,218 entries, and 662 insured teams — ranking #1 in registrations, entries, and insurance.
South Carolina, New Mexico, and North Carolina need attention. These states experienced the steepest registration declines and require focused director engagement and event scheduling support.
Director pool is stable at 356 active directors in 2026, up slightly from 355 in 2025, showing healthy retention despite overall director recruitment challenges industry-wide.
Team entries are growing broadly with 28 states showing positive entry growth vs. only 10 declining, led by Texas (+2,711), Colorado (+1,356), and Alabama (+1,070).
The 2027 pipeline is strong at 13,624 teams already registered, representing 63% of the full 2026 total — a healthy indicator for continued momentum heading into next season.

Team Entries: Growth & Decline (2025 → 2026)

States That Grew (28 states)

Rank	State	Entries 2025	Entries 2026	Change	% Change
#1	Colorado	289	1,606	+1,317	+455.7%
#2	Alabama	2,255	3,386	+1,131	+50.2%
#3	North Carolina	2,153	3,274	+1,121	+52.1%
#4	Georgia	2,816	3,906	+1,090	+38.7%
#5	Illinois	4,225	5,224	+999	+23.6%
#6	Missouri	6,279	7,266	+987	+15.7%
#7	Virginia	3,126	4,094	+968	+31.0%
#8	Arkansas	721	1,224	+503	+69.8%
#9	Kansas	4,239	4,733	+494	+11.7%
#10	Tennessee	682	1,062	+380	+55.7%
#11	Wisconsin	1,830	2,204	+374	+20.4%
#12	New Mexico	1,824	2,164	+340	+18.6%
#13	Mississippi	988	1,248	+260	+26.3%
#14	Oklahoma	3,156	3,393	+237	+7.5%
#15	Ohio	1,343	1,570	+227	+16.9%
#16	Michigan	3,234	3,423	+189	+5.8%
#17	Iowa	9,045	9,218	+173	+1.9%
#18	Louisiana	4,111	4,283	+172	+4.2%
#19	Nebraska	1,001	1,168	+167	+16.7%
#20	West Virginia	182	306	+124	+68.1%
#21	Minnesota	375	468	+93	+24.8%
#22	Oregon	36	126	+90	+250.0%
#23	Florida	5,543	5,626	+83	+1.5%
#24	California	631	688	+57	+9.0%
#25	New York	1,213	1,261	+48	+4.0%
#26	Delaware	375	420	+45	+12.0%
#27	Connecticut	256	294	+38	+14.8%
#28	Washington	34	36	+2	+5.9%

States That Declined (10 states)

Rank	State	Entries 2025	Entries 2026	Change	% Change
#1	Texas	3,465	2,699	-766	-22.1%
#2	Pennsylvania	1,671	1,395	-276	-16.5%
#3	New Jersey	1,765	1,518	-247	-14.0%
#4	Indiana	7,344	7,231	-113	-1.5%
#5	Kentucky	954	860	-94	-9.9%
#6	South Carolina	158	70	-88	-55.7%
#7	Maryland	576	500	-76	-13.2%
#8	Nevada	28	0	-28	-100.0%
#9	Massachusetts	54	48	-6	-11.1%
#10	South Dakota	152	151	-1	-0.7%

💳 Online Entry Fee Payments (Credit Card)

National CC Payments 2026

55,841

National CC Pay Rate 2026

63.4%

CC Pay Rate 2025

61.1%

Change

+2.3pp

Rank	State	CC Payments 2026	CC Payments 2025	% CC Pay 2025	% CC Pay 2026	Change
#1	TX-NORTH	4,286	1,740	89.8%	290.4%	+200.6pp
#2	PA-EAST	808	943	171.1%	170.5%	-0.6pp
#3	SC	70	51	32.3%	100.0%	+67.7pp
#4	DE	411	364	97.1%	97.9%	+0.8pp
#5	KS	4,631	3,995	94.2%	97.8%	+3.6pp
#6	NE	1,098	928	92.7%	94.0%	+1.3pp
#7	TX-WEST	208	397	85.6%	92.4%	+6.8pp
#8	OR	113	29	80.6%	89.7%	+9.1pp
#9	IL-NORTH	2,273	1,685	81.0%	86.9%	+5.9pp
#10	NJ	1,308	1,474	83.5%	86.2%	+2.7pp
#11	OH-SOUTH	257	157	81.8%	86.2%	+4.4pp
#12	IA	7,487	7,256	80.2%	81.2%	+1.0pp
#13	WI	1,780	1,440	78.7%	80.8%	+2.1pp
#14	OH-NORTH	1,010	928	80.6%	79.4%	-1.2pp
#15	VA	3,124	2,413	77.2%	76.3%	-0.9pp
#16	IL-SOUTH	1,984	1,593	74.3%	76.0%	+1.7pp
#17	MN	339	314	83.7%	72.4%	-11.3pp
#18	TX-SOUTH	704	759	71.4%	70.5%	-0.9pp
#19	IN	5,024	5,131	69.9%	69.5%	-0.4pp
#20	WA	23	0	0.0%	63.9%	+63.9pp
#21	CT	186	138	53.9%	63.3%	+9.4pp
#22	MI	2,102	1,906	58.9%	61.4%	+2.5pp
#23	CO	963	226	78.2%	60.0%	-18.2pp
#24	NC	1,853	1,268	58.9%	56.6%	-2.3pp
#25	MD	279	305	52.9%	55.8%	+2.9pp
#26	OK	1,792	1,783	56.5%	52.8%	-3.7pp
#27	SD	77	64	42.1%	51.0%	+8.9pp
#28	PA-WEST	463	532	47.5%	50.3%	+2.8pp
#29	MO	3,199	2,744	43.7%	44.0%	+0.3pp
#30	LA	1,766	1,831	44.5%	41.2%	-3.3pp
#31	KY	352	392	41.1%	40.9%	-0.2pp
#32	WV	124	101	55.5%	40.5%	-15.0pp
#33	AR	474	366	50.8%	38.7%	-12.1pp
#34	AL	1,302	876	38.8%	38.5%	-0.3pp
#35	MA	17	17	31.5%	35.4%	+3.9pp
#36	TN	375	331	48.5%	35.3%	-13.2pp
#37	MS	395	393	39.8%	31.7%	-8.1pp
#38	FL	1,708	1,448	26.1%	30.4%	+4.3pp
#39	NY	378	389	32.1%	30.0%	-2.1pp
#40	NM	397	408	22.4%	18.3%	-4.1pp
#41	GA	614	543	19.3%	15.7%	-3.6pp
#42	CA	87	47	7.4%	12.6%	+5.2pp

Team Insurance

Total Insured 2026

7,707

Total Insured 2025

7,231

YoY Change

+476

% Change

+6.6%

Rank	State	Ins 2024	Ins 2025	Ins 2026	YoY Chg	% Insured 2026	Ins Rank
#1	IA	620	617	662	+45	50.3%	#1
#2	MO	421	477	501	+24	52.8%	#2
#3	IN	439	463	468	+5	46.4%	#3
#4	IL-NORTH	310	380	438	+58	37.6%	#4
#5	OK	397	397	424	+27	53.5%	#5
#6	KS	369	390	418	+28	63.6%	#6
#7	FL	329	314	327	+13	24.1%	#7
#8	OH-NORTH	312	288	312	+24	45.2%	#8
#9	LA	268	265	300	+35	51.1%	#9
#10	VA	263	262	282	+20	25.7%	#10
#11	MI	239	233	252	+19	38.2%	#11
#12	IL-SOUTH	201	218	238	+20	44.7%	#12
#13	NC	185	180	224	+44	22.3%	#13
#14	MS	207	189	207	+18	60.9%	#14
#15	WI	189	184	205	+21	34.8%	#15
#16	GA	197	190	201	+11	26.7%	#16
#17	AL	190	162	178	+16	19.8%	#17
#18	TX-NORTH	223	188	178	-10	29.8%	#18
#19	NM	241	204	173	-31	38.8%	#19
#20	KY	134	132	154	+22	42.5%	#20
#21	AR	165	137	153	+16	39.1%	#21
#22	PA-EAST	147	150	147	-3	32.7%	#22
#23	NE	126	120	137	+17	61.4%	#23
#24	TX-SOUTH	149	127	128	+1	31.0%	#24
#25	PA-WEST	108	102	102	+0	39.5%	#25
#26	NJ	118	110	101	-9	24.6%	#26
#27	NY	116	114	100	-14	18.4%	#27
#28	TN	89	75	98	+23	23.6%	#28
#29	MN	78	69	84	+15	24.5%	#29
#30	CO	82	63	73	+10	20.2%	#30
#31	OH-SOUTH	63	50	61	+11	44.9%	#31
#32	CA	43	51	58	+7	16.4%	#32
#33	TX-WEST	78	65	55	-10	47.0%	#33
#34	MD	49	55	44	-11	19.1%	#34
#35	AZ	92	62	43	-19	70.5%	#35
#36	DE	34	38	41	+3	45.1%	#36
#37	WV	23	26	35	+9	46.1%	#37
#38	SD	18	15	28	+13	38.9%	#38
#39	UT	27	20	18	-2	43.9%	#39
#40	OR	7	6	12	+6	15.4%	#40
#41	MT	9	9	9	+0	39.1%	#41
#42	CT	2	6	7	+1	5.9%	#42
#43	INTL	0	2	7	+5	46.7%	#43
#44	ID	4	4	5	+1	31.2%	#44
#45	NH	2	1	4	+3	23.5%	#45
#46	WA	7	2	4	+2	14.8%	#46
#47	MA	3	2	3	+1	4.8%	#47
#48	SC	46	12	3	-9	8.8%	#48
#49	NV-LV	5	3	2	-1	33.3%	#49
#50	RI	1	0	1	+1	11.1%	#50
#51	WY	2	2	1	-1	14.3%	#51
#52	MEX	0	0	1	+1	25.0%	#52
#53	NV-STATE	1	0	0	+0	0.0%	#53

State Rankings by Category (2026 Season)

Rankings out of 45 state programs. Green = Top 15 Red = Bottom 15

State	Team Reg	Insured Teams	% Insured	Entries	CC Payments	% CC Pay	Score	Tier
Iowa	#4	#2	#7	#1	#1	#10	93	Elite
Illinois	#1	#1	#15	#5	#5	#9	89	Elite
Kansas	#13	#6	#2	#6	#4	#4	89	Elite
Indiana	#7	#4	#13	#3	#3	#15	85	Elite
Missouri	#6	#3	#9	#2	#6	#24	83	Elite
Texas	#3	#8	#27	#14	#2	#1	81	Elite
Oklahoma	#8	#5	#6	#11	#10	#22	79	High Value
Virginia	#5	#11	#29	#8	#7	#13	75	High Value
Ohio	#10	#7	#11	#18	#17	#12	74	High Value
Michigan	#15	#12	#18	#10	#8	#18	72	High Value
Louisiana	#16	#10	#12	#7	#12	#25	71	High Value
North Carolina	#9	#14	#24	#13	#9	#20	69	High Value
Pennsylvania	#11	#13	#22	#20	#16	#6	69	High Value
Florida	#2	#9	#30	#4	#13	#33	68	High Value
Wisconsin	#17	#16	#21	#15	#11	#11	68	High Value
Nebraska	#28	#22	#4	#24	#18	#5	64	High Value
Alabama	#14	#18	#28	#12	#15	#29	58	Mid Value
New Jersey	#20	#23	#34	#19	#14	#8	58	Mid Value
Georgia	#12	#17	#25	#9	#20	#36	57	Mid Value
Mississippi	#26	#15	#3	#22	#24	#32	56	Mid Value
Arkansas	#24	#21	#14	#23	#21	#28	53	Mid Value
Colorado	#29	#27	#23	#17	#19	#19	52	Mid Value
Delaware	#32	#31	#16	#30	#22	#3	52	Mid Value
New Mexico	#19	#19	#20	#16	#23	#35	52	Mid Value
Kentucky	#21	#20	#17	#26	#27	#26	50	Mid Value
Minnesota	#23	#26	#33	#29	#28	#14	44	Mid Value
New York	#18	#24	#38	#21	#25	#34	42	Mid Value
Tennessee	#25	#25	#26	#25	#26	#31	42	Mid Value
West Virginia	#37	#32	#1	#31	#31	#27	42	Mid Value
South Dakota	#36	#33	#10	#33	#34	#23	38	Developing
Maryland	#27	#29	#40	#28	#29	#21	36	Developing
Oregon	#35	#35	#35	#34	#32	#7	35	Developing
Arizona	#34	#30	#5	#38	#38	#38	33	Developing
California	#22	#28	#39	#27	#33	#37	32	Developing
Connecticut	#30	#37	#43	#32	#30	#17	31	Developing
South Carolina	#31	#42	#45	#35	#35	#2	30	Developing
Montana	#41	#36	#8	#40	#40	#40	25	Developing
Washington	#39	#40	#42	#37	#36	#16	23	Developing
Massachusetts	#33	#41	#44	#36	#37	#30	19	Low Activity
Utah	#38	#34	#19	#44	#44	#44	18	Low Activity
Idaho	#40	#38	#31	#39	#39	#39	17	Low Activity
New Hampshire	#42	#39	#32	#41	#41	#41	13	Low Activity
Nevada	#43	#43	#41	#42	#42	#42	6	Low Activity
Rhode Island	#44	#44	#36	#43	#43	#43	6	Low Activity
Wyoming	#45	#45	#37	#45	#45	#45	3	Low Activity

USSSA Fastpitch — 2026 National Performance Report

Compiled Grade Card Analysis for Convention 2026

States That Grew (28 states)

States That Declined (10 states)