BFA Nationals Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

Baseball For All (BFA) Nationals is the largest girls’ baseball tournament in the country—and in U.S. history. This year’s tournament will be the 11th annual event, and promises to be our largest turnout yet, welcoming teams from around the globe.

We welcome all girls ages 6–18 to participate at the tournament. 

This year’s tournament will be hosted in Rockford, Illinois. 

This year’s tournament will take place from July 19 – July 25, 2026. 

Yes! We are happy to help connect your daughter to a team looking for “free agents.” Please fill out this form and we will be in touch soon.

If you are flying, we recommend traveling into Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport or Midway Airport, renting a car, and driving to Rockford.

This year’s tournament is NOT a stay-to-play event. You are welcome to book any hotel rooms, Airbnbs, VRBOs, or any other kind of rental accommodations for you, your family, and your team.

Because the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup Qualifiers and the All-American Girls’ Professional Baseball League reunion will both be taking place in Rockford this year, we are amending our game schedules to allow for teams to maximize their time to participate in as many events as possible.

Tournament

Games will begin in the morning on Monday, July 20, 2026.

On Sunday, July 19, interested teams will have an opportunity to get practice time on fields, take their team photos, and participate in our kickoff party in the evening.

Medal games will be played on Saturday, July 25. The last games of the day will be completed by mid-afternoon.

Teams will have an opportunity to play at fields throughout Rockford.

All divisions are kid-pitch unless otherwise specified. See below for field dimensions:

8U Division: Coach pitch
10U Division: 46 ft. / 60 ft.
12U Minors: 46 ft. / 60 ft.
12U Majors: 50 ft. / 70 ft.
14U Minors: 54 ft. / 80 ft.
14U Majors: 54 ft. / 80 ft.
16U Minors: 60 ft. / 90 ft.
16U Majors: 60 ft. / 90 ft.
18U Division: 60 ft. / 90 ft.

For some divisions, the difference is in the field dimensions (see above). In other divisions where the field dimensions are the same, the Majors divisions may operate more like a travel ball team with tryouts, while Minors teams tend to have no-cut policies. For our full recommended guidelines to determine whether your team is a MAJORS or MINORS team, please see this link.

Weather permitting, teams will play five games. The 8U division will play 4 coach pitch games.

The schedule should be shared with teams by the end of June.

Here are the rules from BFA Nationals 2025. During our coaches’ meeting where coaches will have an opportunity to discuss certain rules, we may amend rules based at the discretion of the tournament director. Those will be updated on our website, and communicated to all coaches prior to the start of the tournament.

Coaches

All men and women over 18 are welcome to coach at BFA Nationals 2026. All coaches MUST complete a background check, USA Baseball Abuse Awareness courses, and Intro to Pitch Smart. Details on how to complete these correctly will be communicated to head coaches.

We are proud to welcome girls under 18 to participate in our Junior Coaches program. This is a virtual certification program led by accomplished baseball coach and former Colorado Silver Bullets player, Rachelle Henley. Girls enrolled must be at least three years older than the division they will be coaching (e.g. 15-year olds can coach 12-year olds).

If you are interested in being a Junior Coach this summer, please email us today at girlsbaseball@baseballforall.com.

We allow for a maximum of 4 coaches in the dugout and on the roster. At least one woman must be on the coaching staff for each team for the team to be eligible to play.

Events

This year, we will be hosting a kickoff party for all players, families, and coaches in Rockford in the evening on Sunday, July 19. Entry is complimentary to players, families, and coaches. We will be doing a tournament-wide parade later in the week to celebrate all our teams and will update with more details soon.

During the kickoff party on Sunday, July 19, we will be hosting a pin trading event where all players are invited to trade pins with other BFA Nationals players from around the world. Participation is 100% optional.

Coaches have been provided with a discount code to our partners at All Star Pin Trading. Please reach out to your coach for more information.

In years past, we have hosted clinics, mental performance coaching sessions, meet-and-greets with notable women in baseball, movie screenings, outings to MLB and MiLB games, and more! 

The IWBC has teamed up with the World Baseball Softball Confederation to host this year’s Qualifiers. Tickets can be purchased HERE.

As we get closer to BFA Nationals, we will have a dedicated page showcasing our special events. If sign-ups are necessary, you can do so via the links provided on the special events page.