FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 28, 2005

TWO NATIONAL TEAMS TO TRAIN IN HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY
Some Athletes Competed in 2004 Olympic Games

Two countries are sending their women’s national softball team to Plant City for training next week. Both Canada and Great Britain will work out at the International Softball Federation’s (ISF) world headquarters complex, which includes Plant City Stadium and the Randy L. Larson Softball Fourplex.

“We have a terrific facility here,” said ISF President Don Porter. “It’s a great resource for us to be able to offer to our member federations. The complex in Plant City really is a model for regional training centers that we hope to be able to establish in other parts of the world too. We’re optimistic that the softball stadium that was used for our competition at the 2004 Olympics in Athens will be one of those.”

The Canadian team – which features ten athletes that played in the 2004 Olympic Softball competition and two more who were alternates – arrives in town on Monday, January 2, and will practice from the 3rd through and including the 7th. They leave on the 8th.

The Great Britain contingent has arrivals on both the 2nd and 3rd. They will practice from the 4th to the 7th with a morning session on the 8th as well before departing later that day.

Team Canada Head Coach Lori Sippel, who played in the first-ever Olympic Softball competition (1996 in Atlanta), said, “The first step was to qualify (for the 2006 Women’s World Championship), which we did earlier this month. Holding a camp in January gives us an early start on our preparation for 2006.”

Last year the Great Britain women’s team won the Olympic Test Event, which was the first event played in the new softball stadium in Athens. More recently, they finished fourth at the 10-team European Championship in August in the Czech Republic.

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 127 affiliated countries in the ISF and millions of participants in the sport worldwide.

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