BUSY MONTH FOR SOFTBALL IN ASIA
2007-10-01

Tomorrow in Shanghai the Special Olympics World Summer Games get underway. Softball will be one of 21 sports on the programme, being contested from this coming Saturday (October 6) to next Wednesday (October 10). International Softball Federation (ISF) President Don Porter will be on-hand see the competition at the Shanghai Pudong Field. Softball was formally listed as a competitive event at the Special Olympics World Summer Games in 1983 and is now on the programme of at least 15 different multi-sport games.

Beginning one week from today, the China Cup will begin in Beijing. The tournament, which concludes on October 14, will include Australia, Canada, China, and Chinese Taipei. The event will be played in the venue that will host the softball competition at next year’s Olympics. The stadium opened a little over a year ago, hosting the 15-nation ISF XI Women’s World Championship, which was also the sport’s Test Event for the Games. Following input from the ISF at the conclusion of that tournament, modifications have been made and the China Cup, as a result, will serve as a second Test Event, also allowing the technology (scoring, etc.) to be utilized in a game situation since those components had not been in place at the time of the world championship.

Though not in Asia, the ISF – and, in particular, its Olympic reinstatement campaign “Back Softball” – will be spotlighted from October 15-18 at Sportel in Europe. The sport’s world governing body will have a booth in Monaco at the annual international sports convention for television and new media.

Finally, the month will conclude with the XXIII ISF Congress, which will be held in the Philippines. Taking place every other year, the proceedings consist of meetings of various commissions, the ISF Executive Council, regional softball confederations, and, of course, the general assembly. This year’s session runs from October 24-27.