FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 9, 2005

III JR. GIRLS’ WORLD CUP APPROACHING
Thanksgiving Will See Plant City Hosting 24-Team Event, Featuring Seven Countries

When the III Jr. Girls’ World Cup gets underway on November 23 in Plant City, Florida (USA), it will be Thanksgiving Eve in the host country, and the attendees will be feasting on softball, with over 80 games scheduled to be played throughout the tournament. Over the course of five days, 24 teams of age 16-and-under girls will compete in a fast pitch softball event that will include participants from seven different countries.

Following an abbreviated day of play, a solidarity dinner (for the event participants only) will take place on Thanksgiving Day, with a traditional meal being done by a catering company from Tampa that will serve the food under tents that will be set up at the Plant City complex.

Held every other year, the Jr. Girls’ World Cup provides an international competition opportunity to teams of young softball players from countries that are members of the International Softball Federation (ISF), the event host and world governing body for the sport. All games during the November 23-27 tournament will take place in Plant City Stadium and the adjacent Randy L. Larson Softball Fourplex on the grounds of the ISF’s world headquarters complex.

Play will begin with one game on each of the five fields at 3:30 p.m. on November 23. Then, Opening Ceremonies will take place in Plant City Stadium at 6:00 p.m., with one more set of games to follow on all five fields, beginning at 7:00.

Opening Ceremonies will see all 24 teams march into the stadium, along with the tournament umpires. Vocalist Taryn Livingston will sing the U.S. national anthem, followed by a welcome address from ISF President Don Porter.

The seven countries that will be represented at the event are Canada, Chinese Taipei, Great Britain, Jamaica, Ukraine, USA, and Venezuela. The teams will be divided into four pools of six.

All games are free and open to the public. The ISF is also seeking volunteers to help out during the event. Those interested should write to worldcup@internationalsoftball.com or call (813) 864-0100.

The full game schedule for the III Jr. Girls’ World Cup can be viewed here.

For more information, please contact ISF Director of Communications Bruce Wawrzyniak at brucew@internationalsoftball.com or (813) 864-0100, ext. 229.