Written by Rayburn Hesse, Spy Softball In response to a question from SPY, the International Softball Federation disclosed today that IOC President Rogge has informed ISF there is no possibility that the IOC Congress will consider reinstating softball in 2016 when the Congress convenes in October. ISF advised SPY: “with regards to the IOC Session in October, Jacques Rogge has, unfortunately, told all five of us candidate sports (meaning, the ones other than golf and rugby) that they will only consider those two sports that the Executive Board recommended and that if one or none of those two fail to get enough votes for 2016, the Session will not consider any of the others (baseball, karate, roller sports, softball, or squash).” After the IOC Executive Board chose rugby and golf at its meeting in Berlin earlier this month, a flurry of rumors circulated through the softball world, with the fury of a Chicago snow storm, alleging that softball could be reinstated if either rugby, golf or both were rejected by the full IOC when it meets in October in Copenhagen. An unauthorized source implied that ISF President Don Porter would lead the charge. Not so, says ISF. USA ...

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — The USA Softball Women’s Pan American Qualifier team and Megan Langenfeld (Bakersfield, Calif.) are nominees for August 2009 awards from the U.S. Olympic Committee. The team is being considered for the Team of the Month Award for their Gold Medal performance while Langenfeld is being considered for the Female Athlete of the Month. Fan votes count for 10-percent of the total while votes of the Olympic Family comprise the rest. Both polls are available below. To vote for the Women’s Pan American Qualifier Team, you can also go to http://twtpoll.com/jgedtq. Or you can vote for Langenfeld at http://twtpoll.com/87q1gx. The last day to vote is Sunday, Sept. 6. After leading the 2006 Junior Team to a World Championship Langenfeld made her first appearance on the Women’s Team a memorable one hitting .605 with a team high 23 hits at the Pan American Qualifier in Maracay, Venezuela, July 31-Aug. 9. She was consistent at the plate hitting over .500 in 12 of 13 games. Langenfeld competed in 13 games at first base with four triples, a team-high, and three home runs. In two games, she had five RBI, contributing to her team-high 21 RBI at the Pan American Qualifier. In the ...

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Shortstop Natasha Watley (Irvine, Calif.) was selected as the U.S. Olympic Committee’s (USOC) Female Athlete of the Month for her impressive performances with the USA Softball Women’s National Team in July 2009, the USOC announced today. She led the team in several categories including hits, RBI and stolen bases. “I am truly honored and excited to receive the USOC July Athlete of the Month as I know I was on a list of highly talented individuals. This summer was a great one for USA Softball and I, as always, am honored to be a part of this team,” said Watley. “The year after the Olympics is always a tough year because you are training nonstop before the Games and then the letdown after is tough. It can be hard to come back out and get back in the training mode but I am happy with the success USA Softball has had this summer.” Watley, who won 53-percent of the online vote, topped World 2009 FINA World Champion water polo player Kelly Rulon (Point Loma, Calif.) to take home the individual honor for the first time, although she was a part of the USOC Team of the Month as ...

By Pirate Irwin PARIS (AFP) — Should softball regain its place as an Olympic sport it could bring an improvement in women's rights in the Middle East, His Royal Highness Prince Feisal of Jordan told AFP on Sunday. The 45-year-old - younger brother of King Abdullah II - said that the sport deserved to be restored for the 2016 Games after losing its spot post the 2008 edition. The sport faces a potentially crucial week as it makes a presentation to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board in Lausanne, Switzerland, to try and regain their status with two out of a list of candidates of rugby union, golf, baseball, rollersports and squash all competing for inclusion. However, the Prince, a high-profile supporter of the sport, believes that softball more than deserves its place at the Games. "I came across a woman recently from the United Arab Emirates, in her late 40s, who told me that by playing softball it was the first time she had been on a playing pitch with men," the Prince said. "It is a sport that is extremely inclusive where anyone of any age can play and there is no dress code. "It is neither elitist and has a good grass roots ...

With the future of Olympic softball at stake, it would take something extraordinary to keep Jessica Mendoza from helping the sport she loves. Not even the prospect of giving birth in a month is stopping her. "As soon as they asked me, it was a no-brainer," said Mendoza, an outfielder for the U.S. squads that won gold in 2004 and silver last summer in Beijing. Mendoza will be among the athletes joining International Softball Federation president Don Porter when he makes a presentation Monday to the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland, in a bid to get softball back onto the Olympic program in 2016. The sport was cut from the 2012 London Games by an IOC vote in 2005. While Mendoza won't take part in the formal presentation, she'll lobby, answer questions and, she hopes, "corner some IOC member and convince them why the sport should be in." Seven sports -- the others are baseball, rugby, roller sports, squash, karate and golf -- will each make presentations to an IOC executive committee that will recommend two events for inclusion in 2016. "The voice of America is clearly for softball. No one doubts that," Mendoza said. "It's getting the voices of the girls who play softball ...

IOC President Rogge confirms the seven sports under consideration for addition to the program for the 2016 Olympics will be reduced to two at the IOC Executive Board meeting in August in Berlin. Baseball, golf, karate, roller sports, rugby, squash and softball will make presentations in June to the Executive Board ahead of the August decision on which to cut. “”We are going to study carefully the seven applicant sports and out of the seven we are going to propose two sports to the IOC Session,” he says. The vote will take place around October 6 at the Session in Copenhagen. Softball Reacts Positively to IOC Shortlist News ISF president: “With odds of 2 out of 7 to make shortlist, softball will re-double efforts to communicate incredible value to Olympic Movement” Plant City, Florida (USA); 30th March 2009: International Softball Federation President Don Porter has pledged to re-double efforts to get softball reinstated to the Olympic Games Programme in 2016 following the news that the International Olympic Committee will shortlist only two sports for the IOC Session vote in Copenhagen in October. The shortlist news was delivered by IOC President Jacques Rogge last week at SportAccord in Denver where a top BackSoftball campaign team were busy ...

Baseball hopes to submit a joint bid with softball in an effort to gain reinstatement for both to the Olympics for the 2016 Summer Games. The presidents of the International Baseball Federation and International Softball Federation are scheduled to meet today in Orlando to discuss baseball's idea. Because the sports are among seven competing for a maximum of two openings on the 2016 program, baseball argues that a joint bid would improve its chances and those of the women's sport. Don Porter, the softball federation president, said in a telephone interview Wednesday that while he'll listen to what baseball has to say, a joint bid is less than likely to happen "because we have to find some assurance -- more than there is now -- that it would be more than helpful for us to regain our Olympic status." "There's always a possibility, but it's a matter of where our discussion leads to," he said. "We're in a fight for our lives for our sport. We'll see where they're coming from." In a separate telephone interview Wednesday, IBAF president Harvey Schiller said the sports would help each other get added to the 2016 program. Schiller said the move also would let the IOC accommodate ...

Two-time Olympian Michele Smith and several BackSoftball Athlete Ambassadors were in Plant City over the weekend for the first time with a workshop in support of the program. Olympians Saskia Kosterink of the Netherlands, Danielle Stewart of Australia, Jessica Mendoza of Team USA and other athletes along with two-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer Donna de Varona and North American Vice President Dale McMann of Canada discussed the progress of the program's goals, which is to encourage the International Olympic Committee to reinstate women's softball to the Olympics, starting with the 2016 Games. The IOC will vote this year in October in Switzerland on the 2016 program. Other sports looking to get in include rugby, baseball, karate, squash, rollersports and golf. When the vote came down in 2005 in Singapore in July, knocking out softball and baseball, Smith, who is the chair of the BackSoftball athlete advisory committee, felt like she was knocked off her feet. "It was like someone punched me in the gut," she said. "It was very surreal, especially when the sport had done so well in the Olympics. Unfortunately there was a lot of misinformation out there." Smith said one of the weaknesses the IOC pointed out about women's fastpitch softball was ...

After shining on the grand stage of the Beijing Olympics this summer, ace softball pitcher Yukiko Ueno has been busy. She was selected as the Japan Softball League's the most valuable player and best pitcher, and her off-season schedule has been filled with awards ceremonies, guest appearances, and media invitations. She even has interviews lined up for Christmas Day and New Year's Day. While the stamina that allowed her to throw 413 pitches in three games over two days at the Olympics helps her manage her grueling schedule without tiring, she is also driven by her concern for softball's future. Softball has been cut from the 2012 London Olympics, and the decision on whether to restore it for the 2016 Olympics will be made next year. And, with the sport currently in the limelight in Japan, the desire of all those associated with softball is to use that attention to push for the restoration of its Olympic status. Baseball, which was also removed from the Olympic program, will survive whether or not it is played at the Olympics, which is why we don't hear of baseball players personally campaigning for its return to the Games. But that's not the case for softball. The ...

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - After a stellar 2008 season which included her retirement, three-time Olympian Crystl Bustos (Canyon Country, Calif.) was named the 2008 USA Softball Player of the Year by the Amateur Softball Association. Bustos leaves behind a legacy not only as the most powerful hitter in the game, butalsoas a leader on and off the field. “It’s an honor to be named the USA Softball Player of the Year as I was surrounded by such an amazing group of athletes daily throughout this past year,” said Bustos. “Although the outcome of the gold medal game wasn’t what we would have liked, I am so thankful for being able to represent my country for so many years.” Bustos was stellar throughout the 2008 Olympic Games, including coming out strong in the semi-final and gold medal game. In the semifinal match-up, Bustos blasted a three-run home run against Japanese pitching ace Yukiko Ueno in the top of the ninth inning giving the U.S. the 4-1 victory. Bustos also scored the only U.S. run in the gold medal game with a solo home run again off of Ueno. Her next at bat was an intentional walk, the third of the Games for her. Bustos ...