Cat Osterman is set to take the field in what will be her second and last Athletes Unlimited softball season.

The United States Olympian and inaugural AU champion headlines the five-week season in Rosemont, Ill, which begins with doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday. Players can acquire points individually and as a team after each game. League leaders are then appointed as captains, with the ability to draft their own teams the following week.

Osterman captured AU’s first softball title in October 2020, beating out 56 other players with a total of 2,408 points. The veteran pitcher played for 13 winning teams during the 2020 season, finishing the season with 95 strikeouts and a league-leading 1.53 ERA.

The 38-year-old enters the 2021 season on the heels of an emotional Olympics. Softball returned to the Olympics this summer in Tokyo after 13 years, giving Team USA a chance at redeeming their silver medal from the 2008 Beijing Games. Osterman and Team USA advanced to the gold-medal game in Tokyo but again fell to Japan and took home the silver medal.

“Unfortunately, it’s just not been our day twice now,” Osterman said after the loss while fighting back tears. “If you told me this was the ending and I had to redo it, I would choose to do it all over again because this team has heart, has fight.”

Osterman finished the Olympic tournament second to teammate Monica Abbott in ERA and fourth in strikeouts. The Team USA veteran pitched six shutout innings against Italy in the Olympic opener, allowing only one hit. She then threw a complete-game shutout against Mexico in a 2-0 victory.

One month after the Olympics, the Athletes Unlimited season gives Osterman a final chance to take the mound. After coming out of retirement in 2018 to compete with Team USA in Tokyo, Osterman has said she’s officially hanging it up after the AU season.

Osterman will have the likes of Haylie McCleney, Jessica Warren, Victoria Hayward, Erika Piancastelli and Odicci Alexander, among other softball stars, to contend with as she looks to end her professional career with another title.

Warren finished the 2020 AU season ranked second overall in points after posting an 8-1 record as captain. Hayward finished behind her at third, leading the league in stolen bases and posting a .396 batting average. Piancastelli, a catcher who represented Italy at the Tokyo Olympics, ended the 2020 season in fourth with nine home runs and a .885 slugging percentage. McCleney, the 2020 GEICO Defensive Player of the Year, enters the AU season after a dominant Olympic run at the plate, leading all players in Tokyo with a .643 batting average leading into the gold-medal game. Alexander signed with Athletes Unlimited as a rookie following a storied career with James Madison that included a 66-strikeout performance in the 2021 Women’s College World Series.

Warren, Hayward and Piancastelli join Osterman as the first team captains, drafting their own squads for the opening weekend of competition.

The Athletes Unlimited Season starts on Saturday, with Team Hayward and Team Warren facing off at 4 p.m. ET on YouTube and Team Osterman taking on Team Piancastelli at 7 p.m. ET on FS1.

For a full schedule of the weekend’s games, click here.

Editor’s note: Athletes Unlimited is a sponsor of Just Women’s Sports.

Some of the biggest NCAA stars are heading to Arizona to participate in this weekend's 3X Nationals, a three-day tournament to determine USA Basketball's 2025 3×3 champion.

Sixteen four-player women's squads will take the court when the competition tips off on Friday, with top college programs like South Carolina, TCU, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma State, Florida, Richmond, and South Dakota State fielding 3×3 teams alongside pro clubs and other organizations.

"With the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 on the horizon, we are looking forward to welcoming 3×3 players, both veterans and those new to the game, to Mesa to compete in this exciting event that features a unique style of basketball," said USA Basketball CEO Jim Tooley.

Played in the FIBA half-court style, the tournament also serves as an evaluation tool for USA Basketball's 3×3 rosters, including the group tapped to represent the US at June's 3×3 World Cup in Mongolia.

While pro players are eligible for roster spots, college talents have often dominated international 3×3 teams, including TCU alum and new Chicago Sky rookie Hailey Van Lith, who earned bronze at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

This weekend's 3X Nationals could see NCAA standouts like Vanderbilt's All-American freshman Mikayla Blakes as well as South Carolina's Joyce Edwards, Tessa Johnson, and Chloe Kitts make cases for future USA Basketball roster spots.

How to watch the USA Basketball 3X Nationals

The 3X Nationals tip off at 6 PM ET on Friday, with the first two days consisting of pool play.

The top two teams in each of the four groups will advance to Sunday's championship bracket, where the quarterfinal round will begin at 1:20 PM ET and the tournament final is expected to take the court at 5:20 PM ET.

All games will stream live on YouTube.

In a bid to return to the Olympic women's beach volleyball podium after failing to medal in Paris last year, Team USA hired three-time Olympic medalist April Ross as the Beach National Teams’ new head of coaching on Monday.

Ross will be responsible for supporting the professional development of all USA beach volleyball national team coaches, with the goal of enhancing training, competition preparedness, and performance prep.

The 42-year-old, who retired from professional play last November, aims to help return the US to the sport's elite echelons following an uncharacteristic 2024 Olympic performance where both USA pairs fell in the tournament's first two knockout rounds.

That Paris podium was the first without a US team since the 2000 Sydney Games.

Despite the uphill climb she faces, Ross is particularly equipped to lead the US contingent, having battled her way to a career-capping gold medal alongside teammate Alix Klineman at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

Prior to earning gold, Ross first made the Olympic podium with teammate Jennifer Kessy at the 2012 London Games, snagging silver behind the USA's three-time gold medalists Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh-Jennings — the latter of whom Ross paired up with to take bronze at the 2016 Rio Games.

"April brings a unique combination of elite-level experience, deep technical knowledge, and a passion for mentoring," said USA Volleyball's director of beach national teams Sean Scott. "She's competed at the highest levels and understands what it takes to succeed."

"She is a true champion," echoed USA Volleyball CEO and president John Speraw. "We are confident that her expertise will continue to elevate US beach volleyball on the global stage, especially as we look ahead to LA 2028."

Welcome to another episode of Sports Are Fun!

Every week on Sports Are Fun!, co-hosts soccer legend Kelley O'Hara, sports journalist Greydy Diaz, and JWS intern BJ serve up their hottest takes on the biggest women's sports headlines.

This week, the Sports Are Fun! crew makes some room on the couch for JWS's own social media guru, Gab Basinski. Together, the hosts then tackle a range of women's sports subjects, including how NIL deals and the NCAA transfer portal are reshaping the college basketball landscape.

"The NCAA transfer portal closed last Wednesday, which had over 1,500 players enter," opens O'Hara. "So many moves here, but just to highlight a few: Olivia Miles to TCU, Ta'Niya Latson to South Carolina, UCLA lost their entire freshman class, and Londynn Jones to USC, and finally, MiLaysia Fulwiley to LSU."

"Of all DI players, almost 30% of players were in the portal," says Basinski. "That's insane."

"I have so many questions and thoughts," O'Hara says.

In addition to all those NCAA basketball thoughts, Sports Are Fun! also dives into NWSL rivalries, the crew's growing beef with the KC Current, PWHL expansion, Caitlin Clark jersey sales, and so much more!

'Sports Are Fun!' asks if NIL is taking the fun out of NCAA basketball

Then, Sports Are Fun turned to coaching. The headline? Angel City bringing on new manager Alexander Straus from Germany's Bayern Munich.

"First of all, I think it's a cardinal sin — and that is pun intended — to transfer to a rival," O'Hara says. "Is that not a thing anymore? I could never, as a Stanford player, go to a UCLA or a USC. Absolutely not."

"When there's money involved, it's not it's not personal. It's business, baby," reasons Diaz. "We're seeing a Londynn Jones go from UCLA literally across the street to USC — that's insane to me. I feel like that's one of the craziest moves. So I guess it doesn't matter anymore?"

"To me, the thing that makes college sports so fun are the rivalries, your school pride," says O'Hara. "You are ride-or-die for your school, and it just doesn't seem like it exists anymore.

"I'd be ride or die for whatever school's paying me, to be honest," quips Basinski. "Get a bag. Because also, it's like, 'Oh they value me enough to pay this much for me to switch schools. So the school is kind of behind me, and if they're behind me this much, alright, I'll take your check and I'll go play.'"

About 'Sports Are Fun!' with Kelley O'Hara

'Sports Are Fun!' is a show that’ll remind you why you fell in love with women's sports in the first place.

Join World Cup champ, Olympic gold medalist, and aspiring barista Kelley O'Hara as she sits down with sports journalist Greydy Diaz and a revolving cast of co-hosts and friends. Together, they're talking the biggest, funnest, and most need-to-know stories in the world of women’s sports.

From on-court drama to off-field shenanigans, to candid (and silly) chats with the most important personalities in the space, this show screams "Sports Are Fun!"

Subscribe to Just Women's Sports on YouTube to never miss an episode.

Concerns over faulty NWSL officiating again took center stage this week, after Sunday's 3-3 draw between the Portland Thorns and Racing Louisville FC saw a league-record 41 fouls called — with only one card handed out in regulation.

In the chippy, physical showdown, Louisville took a 3-1 first-half lead only to see it shortened to 3-2 after referee Corbyn May awarded Portland a penalty kick just before halftime. Portland then drew level with another converted penalty, this one awarded late in second-half stoppage time.

Angered by May's controversial calls, Racing Louisville's Ary Borges garnered a post-match red card for dissent after confronting the officials on the field.

"I do think that match can't keep happening in this league. I think it's embarrassing — it alters the match, it alters the sport," said Portland's Jessie Fleming after the game, remarking on Louisville's aggressive play and the officials' lack of response.

"It's embarrassing for the league, and I think it's embarrassing for Louisville as a club, and very frustrating for us as players."

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Following the match, Borges apologized for her outburst via social media, going on to note, "I'm not much of talking about referees because they are things that are beyond our control but what happened today in the match was a shame."

"For those who had two questionable penalties and spent the whole game throwing themselves in and around the penalty box, please take a moment to reflect and not talk about my team," she continued, accusing the Thorns of contributing to the issue by over-selling fouls.