Are you fairly new to softball, possibly having played only a few seasons, and would like to see what playing in a tournament is like? Think about registering your interest for Ox Factor, a tournament team, new for 2026, made up of players (we hope) from all Oxford League Teams.
What is Ox Factor?
The overall vision for the team is to represent the entire league’s players, as even-handedly and transparently as possible. In 2026, Ox Factor is to focus on newer players who may not have had experience of tournament play. We will field a team at lower-recreational level in several tournaments.
If successful, the initiative may produce more than one team in 2027, at lower and upper rec. A secondary aim is to encourage more Oxford league teams to go to tournaments by introducing some of their players to the joy of a weekend of softball.
Who is behind Ox Factor?
In 2026, Ox Factor will be run by Lewis Massey, Ivette Young (both of Spirits) and Mark Norman (Norm, of Oddsox). Feel free to contact them for any further information.
If you have a question after reading the information here, please ‘Contact the Ox Factor Organisers’. Otherwise, please go ahead and register your interest in playing for the team.
The team or teams will be run along strict principles as follows.
General principles
Ox Factor
- Aims to involve players from every team in the league
- Will be highly transparent: all players across the league should know that they can apply to join the team for a tournament
- Should assist players from all across the league to gain experience and develop their skills
- Should give good tournament representation of the Oxford Softball Association
We also have some more detailed principles which govern the running of the team(s).
FAQs
Step one: register your interest for Ox Factor, and one of the organisers will get back to you. This will be your ‘application’!
In 2026, the team will concentrate on players who are within their first few years of playing softball. Players from teams which have not attended tournaments (recently) may also be prioritised. If you have more experience but would still like to play, please encourage your league team to enter some tournaments (but also see our note below about those who have been to tournaments before). We may be able to get back to you in 2027 when we could have a second team.
The team will be strictly limited to players rostered to Oxford League teams. The only exceptions to this are likely to be restricted to the team being at a tournament, and unexpectedly finding itself short of players.
The team is primarily for newer players who may not have had experience of tournament play. However, in order to make the team work well, we are likely to need one or two more experienced players. Therefore if extra players or if players in key positions are needed, there may be a space for you. Nevertheless newer players will be prioritised in 2026.
One objective of the Ox Factor initiative is to encourage more Oxford League teams to go to tournaments, so we’d really like to encourage you to get your regular team to tournaments. We may be able to find extra players if your team may be short, so do get in touch.
The team needs to be balanced, and it could be that you don’t get into the team at first. Don’t worry, we will get back to you and will try to prioritise you. For example, if we can’t fit you in to a particular tournament line-up, we will try to fit you in to the next tournament. If we have many people interested, we could look at two team line-ups and alternate between those two.
Firstly there will be a fee for playing over the weekend. This is typically around £25-35 (or £13-18 per day, if you only play one day). This is directly related to the overall fee to be paid by the team to enter the tournament so these fees vary from tournament to tournament.
Secondly, there is the travel cost. We usually drive to tournaments and car share, so maybe that’s another £5-10, depending on where the tournament is. Just split the fuel costs with your driver and other passengers. (If you are the driver, politely ask for a contribution.)
Finally, if the tournament is further away, you may wish to stay overnight. There is often camping (usually free), but you may wish to stay in a cheap hotel or AirbnB. A good few of the tournaments that we will look at are in Farnham Park or Swindon, so people will usually commute to those both days and only the party animals camp over.