Photos: Supplied.
Ormiston will take centre stage this September as the Redlands Softball Association hosts the 2026 Open Women’s State Softball Championships, welcoming elite players from across Queensland for one of the nation’s premier softball events.
Softball was developed in Chicago in 1887 by George Hancock, who originally called it “indoor baseball”. It started as an impromptu game with a folded-up boxing glove as a ball, hit with a broomstick. The game underwent several name changes (mush ball, big ball, town ball, recreation ball, playground ball), moved outdoors, and saw changes to the ball (bigger and softer than a baseball), the bat (slightly thinner and longer), and the diamond (considerably smaller). Baseball was pitched overhand; “softball” was pitched underhand – and a new game was born. It reached Australia in the 1930s, and Softball Australia currently boasts 50,000 members.
Tony McKell, president of the Redlands Softball Association and a director of Softball Qld., started playing at the age of six.
“My parents played, my wife and our children play, her parents played – there’s something for everybody,” he says.
“Our State reps are playing A-grade, and there’s C-grade for people who’ve never played before. Anyone of any ability, age or gender can play – four-year-olds up to 80-year-olds; people with injuries or permanent disabilities. Redlands Softball Association was the first Australian club to develop and introduce walking softball, and every Wednesday, elderly players with movement restrictions take to the field.”
Women’s softball has been included in the Olympic program from 1996 to 2008 and then again from 2020 onwards.
Closer to home, the 2026 Open Women’s State Softball Championships, one of the biggest events of its kind in Australia, will be played at Redlands Softball Association in Ormiston from Friday 4 to Sunday 6 September.
Spectators can expect some exciting competition.
“There will probably be about half a dozen under-18 State players, all of the under-23 State players, and probably 50 to 60 current or ex-Queensland players,” says Tony.
“There will be teams from all over Queensland at a quality we haven’t seen for 20 years. There are no clear favourites; any one of six teams could win.”
As an added special feature, this year marks the Redlands Softball Association’s 50th anniversary, so any additions to the trophy cabinet would be warmly welcomed.
