18 May 2009

NEW ISF EC MEMBER MAKES HEADLINES
Friday’s announcement of International Olympic Committee Member and Gambia Softball Federation President Beatrice Allen becoming an International Softball Federation Executive Council member has received significant attention. This follows her having been a part of the news made last month when her country hosted an African Softball Forum. Ms. Allen’s first in-person meeting with the ISF Executive Council will be next month at the ISF world headquarters in Plant City, Florida.

Ms. Allen (left) at last month’s African Softball Forum, with Gambia Minister of Youth & Sports Sheriff ML Gomez

GAME SCHEDULE COMING
The ISF expects to release this week the game schedule for the Easton Foundation Youth Softball World Cup. The 16-and-under girls’ fast pitch event will take place August 9-16 in Prague, Czech Republic. Competing in the tournament will be: Canada, China, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Russia, South Africa, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe. The official event website can be found at http://ywc.softball.cz/ (single-click on the logo to enter the site).

WORLD SOFTBALL DAY LOOMS
The fifth celebration of World Softball Day is less than a month away. Beginning in 2005, each year on June 13 the ISF’s member federations stage celebrations in their country to coincide with the date in 1991 when the IOC announced that softball would be a part of the Olympics, beginning in 1996. This year’s celebrations will take on a “BackSoftball” theme in light of the ongoing reinstatement campaign. World Softball Day 2009 will also come two days before the presentation to the IOC Executive Board in Lausanne.

ATHLETE AMBASSADORS ON THE AIR
The college softball playoffs in the USA are in full swing. Teams across the country are seeking to gain a berth in the Women’s College World Series that will take place in Oklahoma City, the site of next year’s ISF XII Women’s World Championship. ESPN is doing significant broadcasting of the various games currently taking place. Two BackSoftball Athlete Ambassadors have been providing color commentary on game broadcasts: Michele Smith (Team USA, 1996 & 2000 Olympic softball gold medalist) and Jessica Mendoza (Team USA, 2004 Olympic softball gold medalist and 2008 silver medalist).

Jessica Mendoza (left) and Michele Smith in front of the BackSoftball display in January at the ISF headquarters.

ONE DOWN, MANY (MANY!) TO GO
The 10th Arafura Games, which included softball, concluded yesterday in Darwin, Australia. There are numerous softball competitions yet to come, however. Next month will see the 8th Senior World Cup give male and female ‘masters’ softball players an opportunity to compete in slow pitch. Then July brings no fewer than ten international and regional softball events to the calendar, including the ISF XII Men’s World Championship in Saskatoon (Canada), featuring 16 teams. Still to come for softball later this year are the Youth World Cup (see above), the World Masters Games, and the 9th Central American Games.