FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 17, 2004

DEMAND EXCEEDS SUPPLY FOR BERTHS IN 1ST WUSC
15 Countries Register for Tournament in Plant City This October

The first World University Softball Championship will take place later this year at the International Softball Federation’s (ISF) world headquarters in Plant City. And everyone seems to want to play.

Being staged with the hope that it will lead to softball being added to the program of the World University Games, the event is open to teams consisting of athletes that haven’t been out of university or its equivalent for more than a year and are between the ages of 17 and 28. The ISF put the call out to all teams whose university is a member of the International University Sports Federation (FISU), who is sanctioning the event, as well as to ISF members through their national FISU body. Original plans had called for the event to be a 12-team tournament, but 15 have entered, which might be considered a good problem to have.

“Any time you put an event on for the first time, certainly there will be some unknowns,” said ISF President Don Porter. “We were optimistic that 12 teams that met the criteria would enter, but this response has been great to see. It obviously reflects the global reach that our sport has.”

Those that have entered are: Australia, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Japan, Netherlands, Nigeria, South Korea, Uganda, USA, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Mr. Porter noted that of the 15 that have entered, six are from countries whose national softball team will have just competed for medals on the world’s stage in Athens two months earlier.

“We are going to have discussions with FISU about this response by the teams,” he explained. “Unfortunately, and I’m surprised I’m having to say this, we will likely have to turn some of them away.”

The 1st World University Softball Championship, being jointly organized by the ISF and the United States Collegiate Sports Council (USCSC), is scheduled for October 26-31 in Plant City Stadium.

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