New Zealand started the year off with a gold medal performance at the 1st Men's Commonwealth Softball Championship. (Photo by Cindy McIntyre/Tru-View Photography)

2006 SOFTBALL YEAR IN REVIEW
2006-12-29

Below is a review of some of the notable goings-on in the world of international softball this past calendar year…

The International Softball Federation (ISF) welcomed in the New Year by playing host at its world headquarters facility. In JANUARY, both Canada and Great Britain held training camps for their women’s national team on the Randy L. Larson Softball Fourplex. No sooner did they leave than did three-time Olympic Softball medalist Peta Edebone visit the complex in Plant City. Back in her home country, the 1st Men’s Commonwealth Softball Championship took place at the end of the month with New Zealand defeating the host Australia team for the title.

Most in the Olympic circles were thinking of the Winter Games THE NEXT MONTH, but prior to the start of competition in Torino, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) held their 118th Session. ISF President Don Porter was in attendance as the reconsideration of the July 2005 vote that saw softball dropped from the 2012 Olympic programme was to be among the days of activity leading up to Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Games. Unfortunately, the Session decided (47-43) against a re-vote, keeping softball on the outside of the Games in six years, which the Session awarded to London.

One other notable meeting that took place in February was the European Softball Federation’s 30th Congress, which was held in Sofia, Bulgaria, with representatives from 26 European countries attending.

Guatemala pitcher Jorge Francisco Segura led the men's Central American Games softball tournament with 27 strikeouts. (Photo by Doris Bonilla)

Starting off MARCH was the 8th Central American Games, which took place in Panama and saw Guatemala take the gold medal in women’s play and Panama go unbeaten to win it all on the men’s side. Softball was one of 20 sports on this year’s Games programme. Elsewhere, teams were kicking their preparations for the 2006 Women’s World Championship into high gear. From China playing throughout the month against teams in the United States to Australia and Japan going head-to-head in a three-day series and from DPR Korea gearing up for their debut at the event to South Africa naming their women’s national team, it became obvious that everyone was going to show up to Beijing prepared.

In the host country, ISF President Don Porter and Director of Competition Laurie Gouthro were visiting in APRIL as the construction continued on the playing facilities. Meanwhile, the teams were staying active, with Canada announcing their team and Australia squaring off with Chinese Taipei before the final selectors would name the 2006 Aussie Spirit world championship squad.

MAY kicked off with the Pacific International Men’s Softball Series in Japan, which would see New Zealand defeat the hosts, 5-2, in the gold medal game and Australia win big over Samoa, 8-1, in the bronze medal game. Back in Plant City, the ISF hosted the National Junior College Athletic Association’s Division I women’s fast pitch national championship. The event saw six rosters with a combined total of 14 players from (four) countries other than the USA (Australia, Canada, Netherlands, and Venezuela).

Off the field, the ISF President met during JUNE with IOC President Jacques Rogge in Lausanne, Switzerland. Mr. Porter was accompanied by ISF Deputy Secretary General Ms. LOW Beng Choo (Malaysia), ISF VP/Europe Mike Jennings (Great Britain), and ISF Counsel Ed Colbert. The softball world paused for the second year in a row on the 13th of that month to celebrate “World Softball Day” through various festivities around the globe. For Great Britain though it was right back to work. Competing against the likes of the Czech Republic, Italy, and Russia, the team finished second at the Francesco Sanna International Tournament then came right back home to play in the 5th annual London Cup. June ended with men’s and women’s softball being played at the 6th Micronesian Games in Saipan. Palau was the women’s champion and Guam won its second straight Micronesian Games men’s softball gold medal.

Venezuela was one of nine countries competing in this year's Canada Cup. (Photo by Vision Quest)

As if the first six months hadn’t seen enough softball action, JULY was filled with activity on the diamonds. The month began with the 13th Canada Cup taking place in British Columbia, where Australia defeated Canada in the annual event that this year featured teams from nine countries. Next up came the II World Cup of Softball, where the host USA avenged their loss to Japan in the gold medal game at the prior year’s edition of the event, with the rest of the 2006 field finishing: Canada – third, Australia – fourth, China – fifth, Great Britain – sixth. The event had significant TV coverage domestically and internationally over ESPN networks. Then, the eyes of the softball world shifted to Taiwan for the II World University Softball Championship. The United States edged Chinese Taipei, 4-3, for the gold medal, with Japan taking the bronze in an event that also included Australia, South Africa, and Thailand. Eight games were shown on national TV. And before the page could be turned on the calendar, one more major international softball competition came along as both men and women played at the XX Central American & Caribbean Games in Colombia. Venezuela won the gold medal in both categories.

Italy ran through the competition at the 2006 European Junior Championship, going undefeated in nine games. (Photo by Franco Bagattini)

The pace didn’t let up when the calendar changed to AUGUST. In the first part of the month, the European Junior Championship took place, with twelve teams competing in Collecchio, Italy. The host team defeated the Netherlands in the Grand Final, and both teams – along with third place finisher Russia – qualified for the ISF VIII Jr. Women’s World Championship (19-and-under) in 2007. Later in the month Great Britain won the 5th European Coed Slowpitch Championship, which took place in Slovenia, who was a first-time participant in the event, as was Croatia.

The marquee event of the year came up next, with the ISF XI Women’s World Championship in Beijing, China, having many attributes: it was the first event played in the new stadium built for the 2008 Olympic Softball competition, it was Softball’s Olympic Test Event, and the top four finishers would qualify for the 2008 Olympic Softball event (to be joined by the host country and three teams to be decided at regional qualifiers in 2007).

Post-game press conferences were well-attended due to the large number of media covering the world championship.

Fifteen countries competed in what was a ten-day tournament that would be watched by a total of over 158,000 spectators, not to mention the eyes of viewers watching 29 of the games (plus Opening & Closing Ceremonies) on television and over the Internet. Over 450 media credentials were issued and the culmination was a 3-0 USA victory over Japan, with Australia taking the bronze medals. China finished fourth, so a special playoff game was held to determine the other Olympic berth, and Canada claimed it by defeating Italy.

Off the field, the ISF Executive Council awarded the next world championship (2007, Junior Women) to Kutno, Poland. And, the 2008 Jr. Men’s World Championship went to Whitehorse, Yukon (Canada). In addition, the ISF announced that a Strategic Task Force would be formed to work toward reinstatement of softball to the 2016 Olympic Games (which will be voted on at the IOC Session in 2009).

Refusing to rest on its laurels after the final strand of confetti fell from the Closing Ceremonies of the Women’s World Championship, the sport moved on with an appearance in the 35th National Games in Thailand, which consisted of 10,000 athletes and officials from the country’s 76 provinces on-hand for 33 events.

Bahamas pitcher Adney Bethel throwing against eventual champion Venezuela at the Pan American Men's Softball Championship. (Photo by CODESON/Rafael Soto Agency)

SEPTEMBER closed with the start of the VII Pan American Men’s Softball Championship. The national team from ten different countries was part of a nine-day competition in Hermosillo, Mexico. Venezuela defeated Canada on OCTOBER 8th in an extra inning in the gold medal game, and the two, plus Argentina, USA, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, qualified for the next ISF Men’s World Championship (2009).

Regional play was seen that month in places like Belize, Denmark and Sweden, before the ISF closed out October by announcing that former IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch had agreed to serve as the Honorary Chairperson of the Strategic Task Force.

Another Men’s World Championship qualifier took center stage in NOVEMBER. Japan defeated the Philippines in the Grand Final at the 8th Asian Men’s Softball Championship, which saw Indonesia take the bronze medals and third Asian spot in the 2009 ISF championship. That event was followed by another qualifier, this for the 2007 ISF Jr. Women’s World Championship. The nine-team II Pan American Softball Championship for Girls was held in Puerto Rico, with the USA defeating the host country in the gold medal game, qualifying both for next year’s big event in Poland, along with Venezuela, Canada, and Argentina. The month ended with the USA winning the 4th Japan Cup, which saw Japan finish second, China third, and the Netherlands fourth.

Softball went out on a high note with its fifth straight appearance at the Asian Games in DECEMBER. Held this year in Doha, Qatar, the competition saw Japan defeat Chinese Taipei for the gold medal, with China finishing third, DPR Korea fourth, and (South) Korea fifth. The month concluded with the 18th Congress of the Softball Confederation of Asia.

With another chapter closed in the long history of international softball, ink will be put to paper shortly as another begins with a 2007 that is sure to be filled with more excitement for the sport around the world.

(For other and more detailed news on these and additional stories from 2006, visit the Latest News Archives as well as the Communications section, which has the full list of press releases and newsletters.)