COMMONWEALTH CHAMPIONSHIP WILL DISPLAY OCEANIA’S ADVANCES
2005-09-29

In Oceania, the growth of softball has made tremendous strides throughout 2005, and the proverbial frosting on that cake will come as the New Year is rung in with the 1st Men’s Commonwealth Softball Championship.

Set to take place January 25-29 in Melbourne, Australia, the event will feature fast pitch competition, with teams from the likes of Australia, Botswana, New Zealand, and South Africa expected to participate.

“We’ve seen growing demand for different international tournaments over the years,” explained International Softball Federation (ISF) President Don Porter, “and we’ve responded in most cases. We created the Jr. Girls’ WORLD CUP to provide girls ages 16-and-under with the opportunity to compete against international teams in fast pitch play. We also have the Slow Pitch WORLD CUP that gives coed teams a chance to participate in a tournament that features competition from other countries. And this Men’s Commonwealth Championship not only brings a chance for international play by our men other than at the world championship or multi-sport games, but it gives us a chance to put our sport on display for consideration by the CGF to add men's and women's softball to the Commonwealth Games.”

It also represents a logical progression in an area where a lot of work is being done to keep the growth of softball headed in an upward direction.

Last month a meeting in Palau among nine ISF member nations culminated with the formalization of the Oceania Softball Confederation. The regional body will represent the interests of the member softball federations and foster the development and participation in softball activities within the Oceania region.

One month prior to that occasion, the last of three trips in a five-month span took place by the ISF’s Oceania Development Officer, Andrew Purdon. In June/July he visited Palau, among other tasks, preparing their men’s national team for the South Pacific Mini Games, assisting in purchasing equipment for the national teams & for Meyuns Softball Field, conducting a coaching course, assisting with a scoring clinic, and assisting with starting development programs in the elementary and secondary schools.

In April he had gone to Kosrae, where he worked with both the women’s state squad (see photo below) and the men’s. Purdon reported that an after-school program was started that was to run for 6-8 weeks, after which time a junior league was to be started.

One month earlier, Purdon had gone to Yap, focusing largely on the school development program (see photo below). He visited eight schools, working with boys and girls in grades six, seven, and eight. Purdon also conducted sessions with the Yap men’s and women’s state squads.

Because of all the work going on in Oceania, it’s probably little wonder that 2004’s Olympic Softball competition saw the highest placement by an Oceania team to-date (Australia, silver medal) and with the way things are headed, likely puts the rest of the world on notice for the Men’s Commonwealth Softball Championship, the Women’s World Championship next August in Beijing, and the other international softball events scheduled for 2006 and beyond!

The Kosrae Women's State Squad goes through a training session.

Sixth, seventh, and eighth graders in Yap participated in various skills sessions.