When Athletes Unlimited Softball League Commissioner Kim Ng landed at the Salt Lake City airport, she couldn’t help but notice what she heard over the speakers.
“From the time you land at the airport, the PA [is] welcoming you to the home of its numerous pro sports teams,” Ng said in her address to Utah media earlier this week. “You feel the pride that this community has in its teams, the notion that this area understands the growth, the importance, and the opportunity of women’s pro sports.”
Now the Utah Talons will be one of those teams in that welcome message at the airport. Ng and the AUSL celebrated the launch of the Utah Talons on Monday, marking the home city for one of the league’s six teams.
The Talons are coming off the inaugural AUSL Championship, going 20-6 last summer during the cross-country tour. Since then, the league strategically planned and assessed home markets for its teams.
University of Utah head softball coach Amy Hogue remembers when the league first reached out about Salt Lake City.
“I had to pull my car over,” she remarked. “I was sure I was going to crash with that news.”
Hogue was confident the city and Utes facilities would “sell itself” and the AUSL confirmed they knew Salt Lake had everything they were looking for; there was really just one test.
“They just wanted to check all the boxes, and one of those boxes was that we would show out,” Hogue said.
The league scheduled a stop of its barnstorming tour in 2025 at Dumke Family Softball Stadium. The four-game series between the Talons and Blaze quickly sold out.
The final box had been checked: Utah was hungry for more softball.
Bigger dreams for all
Hosting Monday’s press conference was ESPN reporter and Utah native Holly Rowe. It only took a minute into the festivities for Rowe to get emotional about the moment for her home state.
“As a little girl who grew up playing softball in Bountiful, Utah, and wishing I had more opportunities – we didn’t even have a high school softball team when I got to grow up – my greatest dream was to go on and play college softball, but that didn’t happen for me,” Rowe said through tears.
Instead, Rowe’s career in college softball has been on the sidelines as a storyteller and advocate, covering the Women’s College World Series on ESPN for 25 years.
“We have been growing this sport through love and sweat and creating a platform for these women for so long…this little girl from Bountiful is so damn proud,” Rowe said.
Talons General Manager Lisa Fernandez echoed that sentiment.
The title of GOAT gets thrown around loosely in sports, but Fernandez is one you can call the greatest of all time with little argument. She is a three-time Olympic gold medalist for Team USA (1996, 2000, 2004), and as a collegiate athlete and Bruin herself, she was a two-time national champion.
She pursued a professional career when opportunities and pay were limited; nothing like the infrastructure the AUSL provides today.
“As women, we’re at the peak of our careers when we’re in our twenties, and many of us had to retire; we were very few who were able to continue to play this game,” Fernandez said.
Fernandez has checked every box of accomplishments in the sport. Even on the coaching staff at UCLA, she’s won five NCAA titles. Then, as a first-year GM, she added another trophy to the case with the Talons. Rowe asked Fernandez how she’ll bring that “winning DNA” to the team’s new home.
“I think it’s being surrounded by the right people, and it starts with being right here in Salt Lake. You guys believe in us, and we are going to perform to the best of our ability to make all of you in Salt Lake proud to represent the Talons. That’s our mission,” Fernandez said.
Homecoming for Hannah Flippen
When it comes to having the right people in place, one of them starts in the infield for the Talons.
Hannah Flippen is considered the best second baseman in Utah Softball history, holding the school’s highest career batting average (.384) and earning All-American honors three times. A premier defender, she was recognized as the two-time Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. Flippen has continued that reputation, earning DPOY honors twice as a pro.
As Flippen enters her ninth year in professional softball, she’s withstood challenge and change. Teams and leagues that Flippen played for have come and gone, but she continued to pursue her career.
“Utah getting a professional softball team is something that I never would’ve dreamed of,” Flippen said. “And I like to think that me, continuing to play into my thirties, is a reason why that’s happening.”
Hundreds of athletes blazed the path to now: six pro teams, a partnership with Major League Baseball, competitive salaries, and a landmark TV deal with ESPN.
Cities were eager to get the nod for an AUSL team, and Salt Lake was no different. City officials hope the Talons’ success is an indicator of the city’s investment in growth. Salt Lake City has been vocal about its hopes to welcome an MLB team to The Power District under development.
“How people support it is going to be a clear signal to MLB of how this will be received in Salt Lake… synergy is really what we’re looking for here in the sports community,” Rowe said.
Hogue, who played at Utah and has been the program’s head coach for 19 seasons, encouraged fans to continue showing up. She said she bought season tickets in her favorite row of seats for her and her family.
“Even though I have keys to the building [and] I’m pretty sure I could find my way in, I wanted a seat. I want the community to come out and get to know Megan [Faraimo] and Lisa Fernandez and her crew that’s going to run this team – and really show what we’re going to do.”
Savanna Collins is the Senior Reporter for the AUSL. You can follow her on X @savannaecollins.
