AUSL Announces Expansion Teams, Adds Oklahoma City Spark
Athletes Unlimited Softball League announced two new expansion teams that will play in the 2026 season: the Oklahoma City Spark and Cascade.
The Oklahoma City Spark joined the league after operating for several years as an independent team founded by Tina Floyd, who will now serve as the team's Executive Director, alongside Destinee McElroy, who will assume the role of Chief Operating Officer.
The team will also retain its head coach, Amber Flores, who also serves as head coach of the Seminole State Trojans. Flores has led her team to the Junior College World Series five times in nine seasons. Kirk Walker has been named the team's general manager.
Walker previously coached for 18 years at Oregon State, and 23 years as a member of the UCLA staff, where he won seven NCAA Championships. Last season, Walker served as an associate coach for the inaugural AUSL Champions, the Talons.
Floyd, a longtime supporter of Oklahoma softball, has seen her fair share of Sooner champions on their roster, including Jocelyn Alo, Rylie Boone, Jayda Coleman, Kinzie Hanson, and Kelly Maxwell.
Right Time for Growth for Oklahoma City Spark Alongside AUSL
For the Spark, now was the right time to transition to AUSL, Floyd said, "I think the sport has seen so much growth, and now I think we're at that spot where the worlds are all coming together and aligning. It's the perfect time for Oklahoma City to join the AUSL. It is just a great opportunity for us, but I think it shows unity and that we are here to actually grow this game and do it in the right way, so we could not be happier for that."
Floyd continued, "We did create this team going on our fourth year now, and we've had some success playing independently, but yet we wanted to get on that next level to where there are more eyes on these athletes."
AUSL Commissioner Kim Ng echoed these sentiments.
"I think this is a great signal and symbol for the softball landscape," Ng told Softball On SI. "I think we saw AUSL have tremendous success this inaugural season, from the 24 sellouts that we had, to viewership and the championship series, and social media impressions. And I think adding a team with the caliber of the Spark, and you can see from their roster how incredibly talented those athletes are, by adding and having the Oklahoma City Spark join us, I think it is a great symbol for the softball landscape and women's sports fans in general."
The relationship between the Spark and the AUSL did not magically happen overnight. Instead, AUSL Commissioner Kim Ng met McElroy last year at the ESPNW Summit and began conversations at that time about the Spark joining the AUSL. Ng and McElroy knew each other previously from their work together with the MLB.
Improvements and Changes for Spark's 2026 Season
Although the Spark will remain at Oklahoma Christian University for the 2026 season, Floyd spoke candidly about changes and improvements that will be made to enhance the fan experience.
"Oklahoma Christian has been a great situation for us," Floyd stated. "They let us kind of come in and make it our own, and for next summer, we plan to even do more and make even better changes for our fans and hopefully grow it that way. So we're excited to get to go back there and continue to make that our own place for the summer."
Floyd noted that the changes are focused on the fans. The Spark wants to increase seating to allow for more spectators, more in-stadium activations, increase the number of giveaways, and have theme nights.
"We want to really, really put more into where when fans enter, it's not just I'm going to sit here and watch the game for a couple hours and then leave," Floyd explained further, "We want them to feel Oklahoma City wrapping its arms around them, and ensure they're getting the full fan experience."
AUSL's Selection of Team Locations Still Under Wraps
Thus far, AUSL has kept the locations of its teams close to the vest, but the plan for 2026 is to have home sites for the teams that traveled the country this summer, including stops in Chattanooga, Tenn., Tuscaloosa, Ala., Seattle, Wash., Witchita, Kan., Omaha, Neb., Sulphur, La., Salt Lake City, Utah, Rolling Rock, Texas, and Norman, Okla.
However, with the Spark joining the league with a designated location and since Bandits GM Jenny Dalton-Hill posted about their home in Chicago, this leaves only a handful of locations for the other four teams.
For Ng, there are specific considerations the league is assessing to make these location decisions.
"I think some of the factors that we look at are obviously the size of the market, and I think one of the most important factors is, I call it a softball fervor," Ng said. "Additionally, programming within the local school systems, and obviously, the college market softball market is a major consideration. I think we also talk about partners and being a part of/ a pillar of the community. So those communities where we have found good support, great support, I think, were also high on our list. And then obviously you want accessibility. So travel-wise, it's easy to get in and out of."
Again, although the location of the second expansion team, the Cascade is still unavailable, Ng did leave some nuggets for fans.
"In terms of the Cascade, we hired a great agency out of Chicago, and they helped us think through a huge list of names. Cascade, it depends on which city that name is attached to; it has different meanings. One is for cascading water and free flowing, and the strength of the ocean and water. And then I think in terms of if we go somewhere where it's not on a waterfront, it would have different meanings. So we'll just have to see where it ends up."
AUSL has communicated that they will name the cities for the four remaining teams at a date soon, but softball fans can see which players are drafted where on Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. EST on ESPNU.
The two-part draft will include an expansion draft for the two new teams, as well as an allocation draft of available players who have opted in for the 2026 season.
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Allison Smith is an expert in leadership and organizational behavior in collegiate and professional women’s sports. Smith is a professor (Georgia State University), researcher, and writer. Smith holds a Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee in Kinesiology and Sport Studies. Smith’s research centers on combatting the underrepresentation of women leaders in sport, lack of organizational structure for work life integration for sport employees, and lack of programming and oversight for preparing athletes to transition to life after sport. Since graduating with a bachelor’s in journalism in 2011, Smith has sought opportunities to write about sports as a contributing writer focused on the growth of women’s collegiate, Olympic, and professional sports in this new age and movement for multiple outlets including Athletic Director U, and now Forbes.com. As a former Division I and II pitcher and Division III pitching coach Smith will bring unique insight and expertise to Softball on SI.
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