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Amanda Chidester on being the No. 1 Pick For Athletes Unlimited Softball

Baseball players on field / JWS
Baseball players on field / JWS

Amanda Chidester is a professional softball player who was selected as a member of Team USA for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Chidester is a catcher for the Chicago Bandits of the National Pro Fastpitch, and was named the 2019 NPF Player of the Year. Most recently, Chidester joined Athletes Unlimited, where she was selected as the first-ever No. 1 pick in the inaugural AU draft. 

What went into your decision to join Athletes Unlimited?

I was originally asked to be part of it from the beginning. At that time, for me, it was just like it’s an interesting concept, but I was really pushing to be on the USA team and make that final roster towards the Olympics. When the Olympics got postponed, I wanted to keep playing. I believed joining Athletes Unlimited would be an opportunity to grow this sport, and it would be an opportunity to play competitively against the best in the world.

The league format puts the power in the players’ hands. You are the ones choosing even coaching your team. How has that dynamic affected your mental approach? 

In the beginning, when we were doing the mock stuff, I feel like I was a little too invested. It was exhausting thinking about who drafted who. And I was like, “Okay, I cannot do this. This is way too much.” You have to find a balance, because you can get consumed in it, and then it takes away from you playing, and the fun of all of it, you know? At the end of the day, I realized we all are going to be on a team. We all are going to be competing, and it doesn’t matter, really, when you get picked. As much as this appears to be an individual game, it’s not, because you need to win innings. The most points you get is winning innings. You can’t win innings by yourself. Everyone is just as important, and everyone is so good that it really doesn’t matter when you get picked.

When I can put all of that into perspective, it’s going to make it more enjoyable just to go out there and compete. You need to fill the team with gamers —people who are just going to go out and grind each inning, because you need to win the inning. And then when you win the inning, then you win the game.

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The season is six weeks with a lot of back-to-back games. What are your expectations in terms of maintaining that pace of play? 

We all love playing games, so I’m excited about it. As a softball player who’s been playing for a lot of years, one of the biggest things in our game is to find a rhythm and to find consistencies. In this case, you can’t do this easily, because you’re constantly switching teams. It’s challenging each of us players to figure out how to find a rhythm. You almost have to create a rhythm within yourself. For example, one week you might be batting fourth, and another week, you might be batting seventh. Those are all completely different spots in the lineup, so you have to be resilient, and be able to just step into that role and go. You can’t overthink it. That’s the name of our game, to not overthink it, but it’s almost impossible not to sometimes.

I know you just spoke about how it doesn’t necessarily matter where you’re drafted, but I can imagine getting drafted #1 overall in the inaugural draft was pretty exciting. 

I mean, it was fun. I think that it was pretty awesome of Haylie to choose me. It helped that she was a pitcher, because other position players would have probably drafted a pitcher first. But then Haylie even said it afterwards, “two Wolverines making history,” and I thought that was so cool. Later on, I’ll probably be able to appreciate it even more. But it’s awesome. I haven’t been able to find the words yet, because this is all so new, and it’s so amazing. The experience here has just been so great so far.

How much of an impact do the few team practices have before game play?

It really impacts the communication on the field. We did relays the other day, just for our middle infielders and our outfielders to get a feel for each other. You try to figure out all those different, tiny details of the game that make a difference, like figuring out whose arm strength is greater, or coordinating communication with fly balls, or figuring out our bunt defense. You’re playing with different people every week, and everyone plays at a different speed. You have to understand who you’re playing with, in addition to what you can and cannot do on the field. The practices are so important for this.

With the unique scoring system, there’s an emphasis on individual points. With that in mind, do you have any individual goals that you’re focused on this season?

No. I want to win the innings. I want to play my part each time up to bat to win that inning for the team. After the first day, I realized how important it is to win each inning. From that point on, it was just like, “I need to play my part to get on base or score a runner to help my team win the inning.”

Athletes Unlimited has redesigned the way you play pro sports. They just added volleyball and there are other sports in the work. What do you think this type of a league will do for women’s sports at the pro level? What does it mean specifically for softball?

It stinks that it’s only six weeks, but it means a lot for the sport. It draws traction. It’s going to gain interest. Nothing goes unnoticed, nothing goes missed. They’ve thought everything through. What they’re doing for women’s sports and the money investing in it is huge for us. I think it’s the start to growing an actual professional league that’s even longer than six weeks.

US Tennis Stars Advance as Wimbledon Field Narrows

Italy's Jasmine Paolini celebrates her first-round win over Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships
World No. 4 Jasmine Paolini fell in the second round of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships on Wednesday. (Daniel Kopatsch/Getty Images)

The 2025 Wimbledon Championships wrapped its second round on Thursday, with the grass court Grand Slam seeing just 15 of the tournament's 32 seeded players advance to the Friday and Saturday's third round.

A full half of the WTA's Top 10 players did not survive the week, with 2024 Wimbledon finalist and world No. 5 Jasmine Paolini joining four first-round star exits by falling to unseeded Kamilla Rakhimova in a three-set, second-round battle on Wednesday.

At the same time, unseeded fan favorites like Japan's No. 53 Naomi Osaka and England's own No. 40 Emma Raducanu secured third-round spots at the London Slam, joining top surviving contenders like No. 4 Iga Świątek and defending Wimbledon champion No. 16 Barbora Krejčíková.

Notably, a full five US players managed to move ahead, tied for the largest national contingent still standing at the tournament.

Led by 2025 Australian Open champion No. 8 Madison Keys, the US group also includes No. 10 Emma Navarro and No. 12 Amanda Anisimova, as well as unseeded players No. 54 Danielle Collins and No. 55 Hailey Baptiste.

With matches against Świątek and No. 7 Mirra Andreeva, respectively, Collins and Baptiste have a tough third round ahead — though Navarro's battle against the 2024 champ Krejčíková arguably headlines Saturday's slate.

US tennis star Emma Navarro eyes a return during a 2025 Wimbledon match.
US star Emma Navarro will face 2024 champ Barbora Krejčíková in Wimbledon's Round of 32. (Rob Newell/CameraSport via Getty Images)

How to watch Wimbledon this weekend

While world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is still holding strong in the dwindling field, this year's Wimbledon play is proving that the London Slam is anyone's to take, as the grass court humbles even the sport's top stars.

Expect the twists and turns to continue as tennis's best battle for spots in Sunday's Round of 16.

Round-of-32 Wimbledon play kicks off at 6 AM ET on Friday, with live continuous coverage of the tournament airing on ESPN.

Finland Opens Women’s Euro 2025 with Upset Upset Win Over Iceland

Finland's Katariina Kosola and Emma Koivisto celebrate a goal during their opening 2025 Euro match.
Finland earned a surprise 1-0 win over Iceland in their 2025 Euro opener on Wednesday. (Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

The 2025 European Championship is officially underway, as Euro action kicked off with a group-stage upset on Wednesday.

Though the 2025 UEFA tournament's opener was a sweltering affair amid a European heat wave, world No. 26 Finland prevailed, earning a 1-0 upset win over No. 14 Iceland in Group A.

Finnish winger Katariina Kosola played hero, curling in the winning goal in the match's 70th minute — just 12 minutes after Iceland midfielder Hildur Antonsdóttir picked up the competition's first red card.

"The result is important for our confidence," Kosola said after Finland's first major tournament win since the 2009 Euro. "It was the kind of goal I have been practicing a lot."

"It's terrible to lose and we feel frustrated," said Iceland head coach Thorsteinn Halldórsson. "It is an even group and we knew Finland were good, but our first half wasn't good enough."

Elsewhere, No. 16 Norway closed out Wednesday's slate on top of Group A, taking three points by defeating host No. 23 Switzerland in day's second match.

Led by captain and 2018 Ballon d'Or winner Ada Hegerberg — who pulled the match even with a second-half strike — Norway battled to a 2-1 comeback win, despite the Swiss side outshooting and out-possessing the Norwegians.

Spain jersey hang in lockers ahead of the team's 2025 Euro opening match against Portugal.
Reigning World Cup champions Spain will open their 2025 Euro account against Portugal. (Aitor Alcalde - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

How to watch this week's 2025 Euro action

Group B steals the 2025 Euro spotlight on Thursday.

While No. 13 Italy snagged a 1-0 opening win over No. 20 Belgium to kick off the day, 2023 World Cup champions and tournament favorite No. 2 Spain will face No. 22 Portugal at 3 PM ET.

Friday's Group C slate will pit No. 12 Denmark against No. 6 Sweden at 12 PM ET, before No. 3 Germany contends with No. 27 Poland at 3 PM ET.

Closing out the first group-stage matches will be arguably the toughest draw of the 2025 Euro pool.

Saturday's Group D slate features major tournament debutants No. 30 Wales against the No. 11 Netherlands at 12 PM ET, with No. 10 France taking on defending champions No. 5 England to cap the day at 3 PM ET.

Live coverage of 2025 Euro matches will air across Fox Sports platforms.

USWNT Caps Summer Friendlies with 3-0 Canada Shutout

Yazmeen Ryan, Michelle Cooper, Claire Hutton, Mandy McGlynn, and Izzy Rodriguez and the rest of the USWNT huddle after their July 2025 friendly win over Canada.
The USWNT finished the summer international window with 11 goals, conceding none, across three matches. (Brad Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images)

The world No. 1 USWNT ruled the pitch on Wednesday night, shutting out North American rivals No. 8 Canada 3-0 to finish the international window on a high note.

Catching the Canada backline sleeping, US midfielder Sam Coffey opened the scoring at the 17-minute mark before 19-year-old Claire Hutton claimed her first-ever USWNT goal by heading in a Rose Lavelle corner kick in the game's 36th minute.

Houston Dash forward Yazmeen Ryan then padded the US tally in the waning minutes of the match, finding the back of the net just eight minutes after subbing onto the field.

Despite fielding a young roster, the US overpowered a veteran-heavy Canada side in almost every category, topping their Northern neighbors in shots, shots on target, possession, and — most notably — set pieces.

Canada ultimately couldn't match the game's mental pace or physical battle, as the USWNT scored all three goals off dead ball situations — a free kick, a corner kick, and a throw-in.

"It's not about the opponent," US head coach Emma Hayes said after the match. "It's about what we do, and I felt that was extremely dominant."

With Wednesday's contributions, the USWNT finishes the summer window with 11 goals scored across the three friendlies — and zero goals conceded.

The US now enters an extended break before reconvening for another as-yet-unannounced friendly series in October — but players will be expected to perform in the meantime.

"I said to the players in the end in the huddle, if you want to compete to win the biggest things, it's not what you do here that matters," said Hayes. "It's what you do when you go back to your club."

Seattle Storm Looks to Climb the WNBA Standings in Weekend Gauntlet

Seattle Storm star Nneka Ogwumike high-fives teammates as she's introduced before a 2025 WNBA game.
The No. 5 Seattle Storm will face No. 4 Atlanta and No. 3 New York this weekend. (Soobum Im/NBAE via Getty Images)

The 2025 WNBA regular season returns on Thursday night, with teams at the top of the league standings looking to prove their mettle against close competition across the long holiday weekend.

The No. 5 Seattle Storm have arguably the toughest weekend assignments, taking on the No. 4 Atlanta Dream on Friday before tackling the No. 3 New York Liberty on Sunday.

Four middle-of-the-pack teams will look to close in on a double-digit season win tally while the league's frontrunners strive to maintain their advantage in this weekend's slate:

  • No. 7 Las Vegas Aces vs. No. 8 Indiana Fever, Thursday at 7 PM ET (Prime): Though still without star Caitlin Clark, the Fever hope to harness their 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup victory momentum against an Aces side tied with Indiana with an 8-8 season record.
  • No. 5 Seattle Storm vs. No. 4 Atlanta Dream, Thursday at 7:30 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): Seattle will look to make strides against a strong Atlanta side while putting last Sunday's stinging 84-57 loss to up-and-comer Golden State in their rearview.
  • No. 6 Golden State Valkyries vs. No. 1 Minnesota Lynx, Saturday at 8 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): The rising Valkyries must face a Lynx side hunting redemption, as the league-leaders look to bounce back from their stifling Tuesday Commissioner's Cup upset loss.
  • No. 5 Seattle Storm vs. No. 3 New York Liberty, Sunday at 1 PM ET (CBS): With injured Liberty center Jonquel Jones still sidelined, the Seattle Storm will have a chance to steal a weekend game against the reigning champs, as New York struggles to re-find their footing.

With the 2025 WNBA All-Star break looming, early top performers must keep standards high if they want to hold the line when the season crosses the midway point.

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