As noted elsewhere on our website, an ISF “member” is the national governing federation for softball in a particular country.  In cases where there is more than one governing-type federation for softball in a country, the ISF recognizes the one that the National Olympic Committee (NOC) in that country recognizes as being the national governing federation, or, if there is a government entity (i.e. Sport Ministry, Council, etc.) that holds authority over the NOC, that entity would provide recommendation for ISF membership.

In countries other than the 127 that presently have a national governing federation for softball that is an ISF member, the following steps should be taken to start a national softball federation:

1. Check to confirm that there, in fact, isn’t already a national governing federation for softball – particularly, one that is an ISF member (the full list can be found at the bottom of the Directory/Member Countries page of our website off of the “The ISF” option in the navigation bar at the top of the right-hand column on this or any other page of our website).
2. Contact the ISF regional vice president for your area to discuss your interest and intentions.
3. Contact the regional softball confederation in your area (see the Regional Confederations page of our website, also in the “The ISF” section).
4. Contact the National Olympic Committee in your country to learn what is required to become recognized, both from the NOC and government point of view (may be different or the same).
5. Establish an organization: create a Board (i.e., Directors, Executive, Administrative) and a constitution as well as a mission statement/purpose (competitions you want to hold, where you will get umpires and players from, what you will need clinic- and equipment-wise, etc.).
6. Apply to the Secretariat of the International Softball Federation for membership* (see the Contact Us page of our website for our phone & fax numbers and e-mail addresses).

* Please note that there is an annual $200.00 (USD) affiliation fee required for ISF member federations.