In 2022, the National Softball League will add a third division – an eight-team NSL3 league — and will be played as a stand-alone event at Farnham Park, rather than being part of the Diamond Series. NSL league games will be held mainly on three weekends: 21-22 May, 4-5 June and 9-10 July.
However, on the weekend of 9-10 July, only NSL2 and NSL3 teams will compete, with the third weekend of play for NSL1 moved to 23-24 July. This is to avoid a clash with the European Co-ed Slowpitch Championships, in which a number of NSL1 players will be involved.
There will be a National Championship weekend for NSL1 and NSL2 on 3-4 September, involving the top eight teams from the 12-team standings in each division. The NSL3 Nationals, however, will be played on 9-10 July, with all eight teams involved.
All NSL league play in 2022 will be run by BaseballSoftballUK on behalf of the BSF and any profits made will be invested in upkeep and improvements at Farnham Park.
The 2022 Diamond Series will be played on three other weekends at Farnham Park, with those dates to be published soon.
The BSF is also hoping to start an eight-team NSL4 division, but a limit on the number of grass pitches available at Farnham Park this season due to refurbishment work on the part of the Local Authority means that NSL4 will have to wait until 2023.
There will be two-up and two-down between all three NSL levels after the 2022 league schedule has been played, with the bottom two teams in NSL3 dropping down to NSL4 if that division is constituted for 2023. Otherwise, those two teams will need to wait a year before they can re-apply for NSL3.