It’s showtime.

For the next two weeks, Huntington Beach, Calif. will host the biggest spectacle in travel softball as 630 teams from across the nation will descend on Orange County—home to Disneyland and some aquatic playground called the Pacific Ocean– to compete in the Premier Girls Fastpitch Nationals.

The brainchild of Dan Hay, who has been a high school and club softball coach for over 35 years (and just retired this year as Head Coach at Marina (Huntington Beach, Calif.) High after winning the CIF-SS Division 3 Championship in 2025), he has seen PGF blossom into the “must attend” event for top club programs from every corner of the country—Hawaii to Florida and practically every state in-between.

“As PGF enters its 16th year,” Hay said earlier today, “we take great pride in providing a high-level platform for the top female youth athletes, to perform on a high level in front of over 400 college scouts.”

“I wish them and their families the best of luck in these national championships and PGF hopes you all enjoy the Southern California weather!”

Technically, Week 1 of the 2026 PGF Nationals kicks off tonight with a Coaches Dinner for the 18U and 16U staffs that will compete this week and tomorrow (Saturday, July 18) it gets serious with teams checking in, doing bat testing and then launching right into pool play.

Then, on Monday, it gets serious… er.

Bracket games will be held in the first half of the day before the official PGF Opening Ceremonies that attendees will NOT want to miss.

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Opening Ceremonies

Held at the Huntington Beach Central Park (7111 Talbert Ave., Huntington Beach, Calif.), teams, players, coaches, and families are invited to begin arriving at 1:30 p.m., with ceremonies starting at 4:00 p.m.

PGF’s suggested attire for players is “a team uniform, practice wear or anything that represents your organization well.”

Highlights of the festivities will include welcome addresses at 5:30 pm by softball legends Jennie Finch and Jocelyn Alo representing the John Wayne Institute and then a musical performance by country music artist Julia Cole at 5:45 pm.

The event will also feature Polynesian dancers, food trucks, PGF merchandise sales, and a social gathering that concludes around 7:00 p.m. before attendees head to the beach.

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Bracket Play Heading Towards the Friday & Saturday Championships

The next three days – Tuesday through Thursday—will continue the march towards the championship games to take place at the end of the week:

• the 18U and 16U Platinum Championships a week from today, Friday, July 24, and
• the 18U and 16U Premier Championships taking place on Saturday, June 25.

All title games—for both weeks, including the 14U, 12U and 10U title contests in Week 2—will be held at Deanna Manning Stadium in Bill Barber Park, Irvine, Calif.

The pair of Premier Championships will be held on ESPN platform channels—the 16U game kicking off at 8:30 am PST will be streamed live on ESPN and the 18U game will be nationally televised live on ESPNU.

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The PGF Futures & Seniors High School All-American Games

Then, after the Week 1 championship games conclude in the first half of Saturday, the second half of the day will feature many of the elite travel ball players in the country competing in the pair of all-star games.

The PGF High School (Futures) All American Game for the underclassmen will kick off at 3 pm PST—streamed live on ESPN+—and the PGF High School (Seniors) All American Game for the graduated seniors (Class of 2026) is scheduled to start at 7 pm on ESPNU-LIVE.

Here’s the roster for the Futures Game:

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Here’s the roster for the PGF All-American Futures Game:

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Finally, if you didn’t see it initially, here’s the “Reveal Show” where the teams were named.

This is Brentt Eads of Line Drive Media… once again, it was a huge honor and privilege to be part of that show which aired on ESPNU and featured the great Daron Sutton and Amanda Freed.

I’m excited to be at PGF Nationals Week 1 and to be at the championships and the All-American Games!

I must warn you, however, that if you see me in person that autographs are $5; just know that I will NOT pay you more than $10 to take my autograph… thank you.

— Brentt Eads/Line Drive Media
E-mail: Brentt.Eads@LineDriveMedia.com