Canadian softball veteran Victoria Hayward has competed through four Olympic cycles — yet she’s only played in one.
And so as softball returns for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, the 33-year-old Toronto native is still taking a big-picture view. The sport has only been on the Olympic program once since 2008, when the Tokyo Olympics included it for the 2020 Games, where Hayward competed.
“I think the mission to grow our sport has to be bigger than just doing it for that world stage,” said Hayward, who joined the national team as a 16-year-old in 2009 but had to watch the 2012, 2016 and 2024 Olympics from afar.
Hayward’s mission continues Saturday when she will suit up for opening day of the newest Athletes Unlimited Softball League season. The competition first began in 2020 with a fantasy-style, athlete-centred format — now, it’s back for its first go-round as a more traditional, team-focused pro league.
“Our goal is to have women be professional softball players and that requires more games, that requires that traditional model and so we’re creeping closer and closer toward that and that’s something we’re definitely really proud of as a league,” Hayward said.
Hayward was part of the original group of players who competed at a field in Rosemont, Ill., in 2020 in an attempt to drum up interest for their sport ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.
Since its inception, Athletes Unlimited has expanded to include volleyball and basketball, with both adopting the player-first scoring format.
Now, softball has become the first to branch out into the more traditional model, featuring four teams playing 24 games each across 10 cities. Hayward was drafted to a team called the Talons.
Former Miami Marlins general manager and longtime MLB executive Kim Ng came aboard as commissioner in April, and one month later MLB announced a strategic partnership with the league.
“It’s really a testament to all of the work that every generation of professional softball players has done to increase visibility, to really just put our sport on the map in a way that MLB recognizes its value, recognizes its potential and wants to be a part of it,” Hayward, who spent three years from 2020 to 2022 on the AU board, said.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said the league was “really excited” about the investment.
“We thought rather than starting on our own and competing, that finding a place where we could invest and grow a business was a better opportunity for us,” Manfred said.
For Hayward, the partnership represents a massive step toward creating that sustainable pro environment like basketball players have in the WNBA, soccer players have in the NWSL and NSL, and hockey players have in the PWHL.
She said AU has received advice from some the WNBA players who spend their off-season in the league.
“Once you kind of receive that [MLB] stamp of approval things can really take off, and I think that’s really exciting,” Hayward said.
Hayward added that the league had hoped to start in 2020 with a traditional model, but it was forced to pivot due to various pandemic restrictions.
For this season, AU will maintain some of its old model in the form of a season-ending All-Star Cup, a month-long competition in August following the regular season.
“To see it come full circle and to have the opportunity to have a team, to be able to create new beginnings and just lay the foundation for it to be built upon is really awesome,” Hayward said.
Meanwhile, the timing of the MLB investment lands at the beginning of a quadrennial, setting up the sport to create momentum ahead of its return to the Olympics in three years — and perhaps convince Brisbane 2032 organizers that is should be included there, too.
Additionally, AU should help athletes stay sharp competitively in advance of that competition, Hayward said.
“The athletes within this league are the absolute best of the best and now with a model that we’re going to play a lot more games and we’re going to be exposed to that high-level competition day in and day out and just be around the best softball players in the world, as a competitor training to be in that world stage at the Olympics, that’s all you can ask for,” Hayward said.
As for Team Canada, Hayward is the lone Canuck registered for this season of Athletes Unlimited. She said she hopes more Canadians will join in future years.
But Hayward, who hasn’t competed on the national team since 2022, said she doesn’t anticipate being part of the Olympic roster.
“I’ll never say never. A lot can change. As of right now, I do not plan on being part of the national team at that time, but stranger things have happened than for somebody to come out of retirement to compete at the Olympic games,” she said. “I would love to be involved in some capacity.”
She credited former player and current national team head coach Kaleigh Rafter for bridging the gap toward the next generation of Canadian softball players that will strive to build upon Hayward and company’s Tokyo bronze medal.
“Most people only want to be in when the Olympics are in and I’m really proud of our country for wanting to be consistent and continue to grow and I think then when you get into a cycle when the Olympics is back, I think there’s a renewed sense of purpose,” Hayward said.
Indeed, Hayward’s purpose is clear as a refreshed and renewed AU gets set for first pitch.
