USA Softball was founded in 1933 as the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) with a tournament held in Chicago that was organized by Leo Fischer and Michael J. Pauley. The following year, the 1934 National Recreation Congress recognized the ASA. Shortly afterward, the ASA was located in Newark, New Jersey. A world amateur softball tournament was held by the ASA at Chicago's Soldier Field that started on September 7, 1939. The ASA relocated to its new headquarters in Oklahoma City on January 1, 1966.