FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 6, 2005
NJCAA AWARDS CHAMPIONSHIPS TO PLANT CITY
ISF World Headquarters Complex in Florida to Host Event
in 2006, 2007, & 2008
Plant City, Florida, has been awarded the National Junior College Athletic Association’s (NJCAA) 2006, 2007, & 2008 women’s division I softball championships. The decision came at the NJCAA’s 64th Annual Meeting, which ended on Saturday in Charlotte, North Carolina.
This action means that, starting 13 months from now, the 16-team event held every May will take place for three straight years in Plant City Stadium and the Randy L. Larson Softball Fourplex, on the grounds of the International Softball Federation’s (ISF) world headquarters.
“I’m very pleased that the NJCAA has shown their confidence in our organization as a host and our facilities as a site for their women’s division I championships, starting in 2006,” said ISF President Don Porter. “We have a great relationship with the city of Plant City and have been able to put on great events here before, so I’m sure this will be no different.”
Mr. Porter went on to point out that a tournament comprised of collegiate-level athletes just took place at the ISF’s complex in Plant City six months ago. The sport’s world governing body hosted the 1st World University Softball Championship last October, with athletes from eight different countries participating – some who’d played two months earlier in the Olympic Softball competition in Athens. The success of that event contributed to the announcement last month by the International University Sports Federation (FISU) that the sport of softball is being added to the program of the 2007 World University Games in Bangkok.
The ISF this year is planning to host teams from various countries again at its Plant City facilities. The II Slow Pitch World Cup (coed) is scheduled for October 8-10 and the III Jr. Girls’ World Cup (16-and-under fast pitch) is slated for November 23-27.
"The NJCAA is excited about the opportunity to showcase our student-athletes within a venue as impressive as Plant City Stadium and the Randy L. Larson Softball Fourplex and we are looking forward to working with the ISF and the city of Plant City," said NJCAA Associate Executive Director Mary Ellen Leicht. "The staff of the ISF has proven they can host tournaments on the international level and we anticipate the teams involved in the NJCAA tournament will benefit greatly from that experience."
ISF President Don Porter also stated that, “The ISF Hall of Fame & Museum will be open by the time the first NJCAA championship comes here next year, giving these young players – and certainly their parents and others who attend the event – an opportunity to see how the great game they play was built.”
Of the 35 Olympic sports – summer (28) and winter (7) combined – softball is the only one whose international federation has its world headquarters in the USA.
The ISF is the world governing body of the sport as recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF). Softball (women's fast pitch) made its Olympic debut at the 1996 Games in Atlanta. There are 126 affiliated countries in the ISF and millions of participants in the sport worldwide.
The NJCAA, which has 500+ members in 42 states, is the national governing body of 15 men’s and 12 women’s sports over three divisions. Approximately 45,300 athletes compete in one of 24 regions and every year the NJCAA hosts 50 national championships.
For more information, please contact ISF Director of Communications Bruce Wawrzyniak at brucew@internationalsoftball.com or (813) 864-0100, ext. 229, or NJCAA Director of Sports Information & Media Relations Amy Tagliareni at (719) 590-9788 or atagliareni@njcaa.org.
