Other website sections

»Sports Market Reports

»Sports Jobs

»Tenders

»Directory

»Conferences

International Softball Federation President Don Porter believes the next 12 months are the most important in the history of the sport as the BackSoftball campaign counts down to the International Olympic Committee Session in Copenhagen.

Mr. Porter led a presentation given to the Pan American Sports Organization General Assembly that concluded this past weekend in Acapulco with a view to the re-introduction of men’s softball onto the Pan American Games programme after not being part of the event last year in Rio following seven consecutive prior appearances.

He also pledged to continue sending equipment and coaches to various countries in the Americas, as is done in other regions of the world. This, along with Mr. Porter’s stated hope to see continued development of – in addition to already-established, more traditional disciplines – arena (indoor), wheelchair, and beach softball, is one of the key points on the BackSoftball blueprint that was introduced last year.

The ISF last week announced the launch of the Easton Foundation Youth Softball World Cup in the Czech Republic next August, which continues the campaign’s commitment to promote the sport to new audiences with special attention to young people and women.

The ISF president said, “The next year is the most important in our sport’s history. Hopefully we have shown the IOC how popular and successful softball can be at the Olympic Games and how much progress we have made since being taken off the Olympic programme.

“Participation in the sport continues to grow at an astounding rate, with large numbers of women taking up softball, particularly in areas where sport is not so prevalent, such as the Middle East.

“That has happened because we have been providing coaching and equipment in areas that need it most and also to youth and disabled groups who have highly enjoyed taking up the sport.”

This landmark comes on the back of a hugely successful 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games, where international sellout crowds enjoyed a highly exciting and dramatic women’s fastpitch competition, which was eventually won by Japan.

Tickets for the Olympic competition sold out months ahead of the event and huge television audiences around the world tuned in to see Japan beat the defending world champion USA in the gold medal game. Yet again the event ran without any doping offenses being committed, further underlining softball’s strict anti-doping governance and sense of fair play.

At Fengtai Softball Field, Mr. Porter, who is overseeing the BackSoftball campaign, showed IOC President Dr. Jacques Rogge and Executive Board members first-hand how successful the Olympic softball competition was in Beijing.

BackSoftball is also planning a major presence at several events to communicate to key stakeholders the progress the campaign has made over the past few months. Among others, some of these stops include next week’s Sportel convention in Monaco, the presentation to the IOC Programme Commission next month in Switzerland, and SportAccord next March in Denver (USA).

This will be a busy international year for on-field activity with such softball events as the World Games (in Taiwan), ISF XII Men’s World Championship (in Canada), Central American Games (in Honduras), and aforementioned youth cup event (in Prague) among several on the schedule.