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 Softball has also been informed and advised SPY: “President Rogge has indicated that the vote in October will be taken in alphabetical order on Golf and Rugby. Secret ballots will be distributed and counted. The first sport will be balloted and then the second. The vote will not be revealed until both votes are taken. Rogge does not want the vote of the first sport influence the vote on the second; hence, the delay in announcing the vote on the first sport. Rogge has stated that if either sport fails the discarded five would not be able to make a presentation nor would a vote be taken to include any sport other than Golf or Rugby.”

Did Porter Count the House?

Many years ago, when I accompanied Nelson Rockefeller to a series of meetings on Capitol Hill, I was embarrassed during a briefing to realize NAR knew more about the disposition of the full Committee than I did. I had canvassed only the leadership. Always count the house, Rocky advised.

Looking back to the events of the four years since softball was ousted on a tie vote in Singapore, the BackSoftball campaign was always climbing uphill. SPY gives Porter et al solid marks for an exhausting effort. But, you could have gotten better odds on the 100 surviving their charge at Balaclava.

Porter is politically savvy. The arithmetic says softball is played in about 130 countries, but Porter knows that only a dozen countries have ever participated in Olympic softball and that softball is not played at the national level in many of those countries, ie, not at the level seen in USA, Japan, Australia, Canada etc. I think Porter counted the house, and knew softball did not yet have a majority in the IOC, despite a redoubling of effort by ISF, and national organizations like USA Softball.

There were numerous harbingers.

In the immediate aftermath of the Singapore vote, Rogge made the first of several critical comments about softball, culminating in his Beijing interview with Bob Costas in which, asked about softball being rejected at Singapore, he opined that softball had not done an adequate job of convincing IOC members – comments he directed at ISF. Porter responded with the BackSoftball campaign.

At Torino, during the Winter Olympics in 2006, the IOC was asked to reconsider the vote on softball. There was a procedural vote required first, to determine whether the IOC was willing to reconsider the Singapore vote; the vote was 52-48 against.

Pessimists began doubting the success of BackSoftball when Rogge announced in March that the Executive Board would consider the seven sports which were candidates for inclusion in 2016 at a special meeting in Berlin in August – at which the Board would select just two to present to the full membership in October. Looking at the composition of the Executive Board, observers speculated that softball might fare better in a vote by the full IOC.

The IOC Executive Board consists of 15 members including Rogge (Belgium). The Vice Presidents are from Greece, Japan, Germany, People’s Republic of China. The members are Singapore, Italy, South Africa, Norway, Switzerland (2), Mexico, Namibia, Morocco, and Puerto Rico. Only three of the fifteen play competitive softball on an international scale – Japan, China, Puerto Rico – and softball never got more than two votes on four different ballots in Berlin. (The IOC does not disclose actual votes)

A possible indicator of EB sentiment was noted in June when ISF led the presentation to the Executive Board. By all accounts, the presentation was well prepared and included some Olympians (none from the United States). Observers said that each of the other six sports also made 20-minute presentations – but their advocates were also questioned for up to 20 minutes by EB members. No questions were asked about softball.

The rumor mill after Singapore held that softball was affected by IOC negative opinions about baseball (scandals) and that members linked the two sports. There were numerous observers at Sydney who thought softball should be expanded from eight to twelve teams, to include another European country, one from Africa, and one or more from Oceana and Asia. After Beijing, Porter repeatedly lauded Japan’s victory over the USA as the “dawn of a new era.” But, even a casual flip-through the Olympic guide showed that softball, at least at the Olympic level, was played by twelve countries, with perhaps four being consistently competitive.

Seasoned observers like ASA’s executive director Ron Radigonda believe IOC could expand the 28-sport ceiling and still stay under the 10,000-plus ceiling on the number of athletes. There is a 2014 consequence to the Berlin decision. IOC has launched a series of new World Youth games, starting with Singapore next year, and another city in 2014. At present, the venues include the 26 games set for London in 2012 with the option of adding the two sports, rugby and golf, if they pass muster in October. Softball is not on the drawing boards for these events, which could certainly grow our sport.

For the immediate future, softball is no longer an active competitor on the Olympic scene, even though it remains, in IOC parlance, an Olympic sport. As the old sheriff said to Butch and Sundance, “It’s over.”

BUT SOFTBALL HAS A VIABLE FUTURE

Without the Olympics, there are serious questions about financing the future. But, there is a solid base for expanding our sport.

Readers should remember that softball was a strong national and international sport before the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. There were some great teams.

Before someone called the Athens squad the “dream team,” that appellation was applied to a group of players who dominated the Pan Am games in the Eighties. Kathy Arendsen pitched two perfect games. In the late Eighties, we competed at a junior version of the Pan Am games, sending the champion Gordon’s Panthers down to South America – with such future stars as Fernandez, Inouye, Weiman et al. Recall the international cup in Nova Scotia where the Asians were determined to beat the USA; catcher Karen Johns spotted them using a pitching machine set at about 70 mph to prepare them for Lisa Fernandez; Lisa did not throw a fast ball but an assemblage of breaking pitches and the USA came away with the title. We raised the bar long before Atlanta.

This past weekend, our three Olympic pitchers – Cat Osterman, Jennie Finch and Monica Abbott – and a strong cast of players from four teams – competed in the 2009 National Pro Fastpitch championship. Many of us got to see the very well-played games, thanks to NPF’s hookup with MLB’s video streaming setup. The video and audio quality were not up to College World Series standards but the very fact that they were broadcast is a major step upward, if you know the history of pro softball. Alas, the stands in Akron were sparsely filled, just like the Gold Nationals championship, played to about 40-50 people.

By contrast, the stands in Williamsport for the Little League World Series are chock full and ESPN has assigned major talent. The broadcasters are gushing over the some-day prospects of boys 12 years old; we’ve got girls playing from 10U to 18U who are just as accomplished but they’re not playing before national audiences.

We fill the stands for the Women’s College World Series. The Pac 10 clashes between Arizona and UCLA are played before full houses, as are a few other regional clashes. The Canadians fill the stadium in Surrey when Team Canada plays, especially when the opponent is the USA or Australia. We need better promotion at all levels.

We need to expand the number of teams which enter international competitions. We need to expand the number of professional teams. We need to send American teams abroad to build the foreign spectator base.

This menu requires financing, never easily obtained. We need to look beyond the equipment manufacturers (and parents). Where are the companies in the USA who can support teams like they do in Japan (the way Raybestos once did)?

We need a campaign to induce broader media coverage. The Washington Post has never been softball-friendly; it published a story on the Berlin decision, totally devoted to how golf would fare at the Olympic level with Tiger leading the USA. The Post covers the Little League but not a word about the NPF. Other major media are just as negligent.

We need to sell our sport – here and abroad.

Don’t lament our loss. Our girls elevated the way this game is played throughout the world, most especially at the Olympics where they set a high standard for excellence.

Politically, we can try to convince the IOC to expand the number of venues, starting with the 2014 Youth games. But, with or without the IOC, we have an excellent foundation to build on – nationally and internationally. While still disappointed that ISF’s World Youth Games did not include a USA national team, the games in Prague attracted teams from countries which have never competed in the Olympics.

The only limit on the growth of our sport is our imagination!

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 Championship Game, Langenfeld was 2-for-2 with a double and a run.

The USA Softball Women’s Pan American Qualifier team had a commanding performance at the qualifier, allowing only four runs in 14 games while scoring 142. With five players hitting over .500, the team displayed pure dominance, tallying 12 run-rule victories with the other two games going seven innings against eventual silver medalists Canada.

In seven games, the offense put up double digit runs. Among the big wins at the Pan American Qualifier were a 21-0 win over Ecuador in five innings, 22-0 win over Panama in three innings and 15-0 victories over Dominican Republic (four innings), Belize (four innings) and Argentina (five innings).

And the squad even had two combined perfect games, with Brandice Balschmiter (Newark, N.Y.) and Nikki Nemitz (St. Clair Shores, Mich.) pitching against Columbia, and with Monica Abbott (Salinas, Calif.) and Balschmiter in the second matchup with Cuba.

But it was not all a celebration in Maracay, Venezuela. At the bats of a Canada team that threatened all season, the Americans lost for the first time since the Gold Medal Game at the 2008 Olympic Games, 3-1. The loss meant Team USA had to win two extra games to make it to the championship. But win two games it what they did — the red, white and blue finished the tournament in the Gold Medal game with a 3-1 victory over the Canadians.

At the tournament, the U.S. qualified for the 2010 International Softball Federation (ISF) Women’s World Fast Pitch Championships, July 16-26, at the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City, Okla., and the 2011 Pan American Games.

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 recently as July 2007. USA Basketball’s Tina Charles (Jamaica, N.Y.), swimmer Rebecca Soni (Plainsboro, N.J.) and tennis player Serena Williams (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) tied for third.

The USA Softball Women’s National Team was nominated for the Team of the Month award for two Gold Medal performances but did not place in the top three, despite winning 87-percent of the online vote. Twitter votes account for ten percent of the final tally, with a voting panel of U.S. Olympic family members comprising the remainder.

The top three in the team category were the U.S. Men’s 4×100m Freestyle Relay Swim Team, Swimming; U.S. Men’s U-19 National Team, Basketball; and USA Women’s Senior National Team, Water Polo. Swimmer Ryan Lochte, diver Troy Dumais and tennis player Andy Roddick were the top there for the Men’s Athlete of the Month.

The Women’s National Team went undefeated in July, winning the Gold Medal at the Canada Cup, July 3-12, in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, the KFC World Cup of Softball presented by Six Flags, July 16-20, in Oklahoma City, Okla., and starting Gold Medal runs at two other tournaments.

At the Canada Cup and World Cup, the USA went undefeated for 18 consecutive wins, ten of which were by the run rule. Watley and her team outscored opponents 78-5 over 12 games at the Canada Cup and facing competition from five teams including Olympic Champion Japan, Team USA went 50-4 over six games at World Cup.

Watley started all of the games at shortstop. She led the team at the plate, going 25 for 47 at the two events with 20 of the team’s 116 RBI. The entire team went 172 for 437, with 17 home runs, 15 doubles and eight triples. The team also went 33 for 37 in stolen bases while opponents were only 3 for 5.

Among the highlights at the plate for Watley were two doubles and two home runs, including a grand slam against Canada in a 14-0 win at the World Cup. She also went 8 for 8 in stolen bases, another category in which she led the team.

In Surrey and Oklahoma City, Team USA had a strong pitching staff of five including 2008 Olympians Cat Osterman (Houston, Texas) and Monica Abbott (Salinas, Calif.). Osterman struck out 68 batters over 33 innings, allowing nine hits and three runs. Abbott struck out 62 over 29 innings, allowing 11 hits and two runs.

Olympic gold and silver medalist Watley ended the month with a solid performance against Australia on July 31 at the Japan Cup in Sendai City, Japan, which Team USA would go on to win on Aug. 2. In the Australia game, Watley went 2-for-4, including one double, with three RBI.

Also on July 31, at the Pan American Qualifier in Maracay, Venezuela, Team USA started a run for the championship with an 11-0, five inning win against Colombia. En route to winning the Gold Medal, the team qualified for the 2010 International Softball Federation (ISF) Women’s World Championship in Oklahoma City and the 2011 Pan American Championships.

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 support. With regard to cultural sensitivities it is an ideal game. The sport seems to have outstanding appeal.”

Prince Feisal became a fan of the sport while he was in the United States.

“Yes, I did play it in the United States when I studied there for 12 years,” said the father of four.

“It is a very social game, really fast, not a contact sport and great fun.”

The Prince insisted that by bringing softball back to the Games that it could help women’s rights advance in his region.

“Yes, it could advance those (women’s rights),” he said.

“In a more general sense it can only conjure up more interest in the Middle East if it is reintroduced into the Olympics because of course everyone sees appearing at the Olympics as being the pinnacle of their sporting career.

“But it is a sport that genuinely brings adults and children together and for the Middle East that is a case of breaking down barriers, which is rare for a sport but this one achieves that.”

The final decision on which sports are accepted into the Olympics is likely to come in Berlin ahead of August’s athletics world championships.

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 throughout the world to be louder.”

Mendoza has traveled to Europe, Central America and Africa on her mission to expand the sport to places it had rarely or never been played before. Already the president of the Women’s Sports Foundation, the resident of Moorpark, Calif., has also been serving as an athlete ambassador for the ISF’s “Back Softball” campaign for Olympics reinstatement.

She has visited South Africa, the Czech Republic, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic — plus made a trip to Afghanistan that included visits with U.S. troops — to reinforce the contention that softball is a global sport.

As part of its campaign, Porter said his federation has distributed $3 million in softball equipment in 70 countries over the past three years. The focus has been in Africa and the Middle East.

“Many of our athletes have really been very unselfish in coming forth and wanting to do what they can to help,” said Porter, who called Mendoza a “passionate” advocate for the game.

Mendoza said that’s the only way she knows.

“Instead of just being the person that’s like, ‘Gosh, that’s cool that people are doing stuff and good luck. Do you need me to write a check? I can do that,’ I’ve always just been very hands-on,” said Mendoza, who isn’t sure yet whether she’d attempt to play if the sport were back in for the 2016 Games.

Mendoza credits an experience from her father’s childhood with planting the seeds for her volunteerism.

After Gil Mendoza broke into a basketball gym and got caught, a coach threatened to turn him in to the police — unless he tried out for the team. The coach ended up taking Mendoza’s father under his wing and turning him into a three-sport athlete — baseball, basketball and football — who would earn a scholarship to play at Fresno State and get out of the dangerous Watts section of Los Angeles.

“My father is a first-generation Mexican-American and sports changed his life,” Mendoza said. “It allowed him to basically live his dream, but it was only because he was given the opportunity by one person. Everyone else kind of turned their backs.”

Mendoza said she picked up a “you never know who you can help” philosophy and found an outlet to apply it.

“That’s what’s beautiful about sports in general is you give someone a bat, a ball, a piece of sporting equipment and what it does to help them just be better people,” Mendoza said, “to get out of whatever situation they might be in temporarily for that moment, to be whoever they want to be.”

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 meeting Olympic Family decision-makers and opinion formers.
Mr. Porter said, “While the decision to cut the list to only two sports for a vote by 115 IOC Members was a surprise, it has not deflected the commitment behind, and focus of, our campaign. If anything it has given us further incentive to work even harder at communicating the incredible value that softball offers the Olympic Movement. We are greatly encouraged by the way IOC Members are reacting to how softball would help the Olympic Movement open up women’s sport – especially in Muslim countries; they also like our global focus on youth and our 100% doping-free track record.
“But most of all, IOC Members appreciate that the Olympic Games would be the absolute pinnacle of our international competition structure; the whole softball calendar would peak every quadrennial with the Olympic Games. While I cannot comment on other sports, I can tell you that the Olympic Games would not be just another competition in an over-crowded calendar for softball. For millions of softball players around the world the Olympic Games would be the greatest honor and we guarantee that the world’s best softball athletes would all commit to performing at the Olympic Games.”
Meanwhile the BackSoftball Campaign has moved to their fifth continent in a month with a critical presentation to the Oceania National Olympic Committee Annual Assembly tomorrow in Queenstown, New Zealand. The presentation will be led by Ms. Low Beng Choo, ISF Deputy Secretary General, and Danielle Stewart, a 2008 Olympic softball bronze medalist from Australia. Ms. Low is also the Malaysian Softball Federation President, Softball Confederation of Asia Secretary General, and a member of the IOC Women and Sport Commission.
Softball was first featured in the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996 and last year’s competition in Beijing, which was won by Japan, was hugely successful with a total attendance close to 180,000 and a continuation of the sport’s excellent record of no positive drug tests in major competitions.

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 three of the sports bidding, rather than two.

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 it’s lack of universality.

It became the rallying cry for the BackSoftball campaign.

“We’ve humbly listened to the IOC and their opinions and made the changes they said were needed,” Smith said.

A 10-point program to get women’s fastpitch softball back into the games was created.

It includes:

Increasing the number of worldwide softball participants from 8.4 million to 10.5 million, focusing on the youth.

Increasing the number of Softball Federations from 128 to 150 by October 1st, 2009 with an emphasis on the Middle East.

Developing further programs and opportunities for people with disabilities to play softball on a regular basis

Providing equipment to regions of the world who are suffering.

And increasing the amount of worldwide TV coverage the sport receives.

Smith retired from playing last year and is concentrating on the BackSoftball campaign.

“A lot of my time now is spent on education outside of the sport and growing the sport,” she said.

It’s not easy. Many associate softball with baseball.

“To us it’s so obvious,” Smith said. “We’re not (the same). The fundamentals are completely different. A lot of people just see the diamond.”

Over the weekend Smith, who has taken a leadership role in the campaign as a former player and media representative (with NBC) and someone with a keen interest in what goes on with the game, helped educate other Olympic athletes so they can educate IOC members about the game.

“We want to show them that softball embodies the IOC values,” Smith said. “It’s clean. There’s never been a positive drug test in softball. It’s a sport that empowers women and it’s a developing sport.”
Michele knows the numbers.

Over the past three years the number of softball federations has grown to 127 federations and will soon be 130 strong.

Forty-one of those federations are in Europe.

The International Softball Federation has also spent $2.5 million in softball gear and given it to countries who are developing the game.

“The IOC looks at what national federations are doing,” Smith said. “I would hope this is an example of what they want.”

The campaign Ambassadors have been attending IOC events to get the word out that softball is indeed an Olympic sport.

They held a media presentation in front of the IOC in November in Switzerland, without a lot of pomp and circumstance.

“I softball has done a good job of really doing the right thing and not lavishly throwing money around,” Smith said. “We are a good wholesome sport. We are everything you want in an Olympic sport and we should be in the program.”

Her heart is in the core of the game.

“We care about 10 to 12-year-old kids whose dreams are shattered,” Smith said. “For me it’s about passing that torch. Isn’t that what the IOC wants?

It might have even helped that Japan won the gold medal in the Beijing games.

“It lends credence to our sport,” Smith said. “It shows there is a great talent pool.”

Fans can help the cause by visiting www.Internationalsoftball.com.

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 Japan Olympic Committee will continue to designate softball as a priority sport eligible for subsidies, but if it’s not restored to the 2016 Olympics, the subsidies will probably be discontinued, and children will no longer be inspired to play the game after seeing it on the Olympic stage. Softball is facing a crisis that could usher in its decline.

To prevent softball fever from cooling off, Ueno and her teammates have gone out of their way to make themselves visible in the media. At the Beijing Olympics, they shouted “Back Softball!” in unison with players from the U.S. and Australia. The gold medalists from Japan consider restoring softball to Olympic status to be their mission. If only their wish falls on the ears of the International Olympic Committee… (By Keiko Tomishige, Expert Senior Writer)

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 wrapped up the Beijing Games hitting .500 (11-for-22) with a team-high six home runs and 10 RBI. She also broke two of her own records as well as tied one. She broke the record of most home runs hit (5) in an Olympic Games with six and broke her Olympic slugging percentage of .923 from 2004 hitting 1.318 in 2008. She recorded 12 runs as the U.S. outscored opponents 58-5, while tying her own RBI Olympic record with 10 from 2004.

She finishes her Olympic career with four records including the career home run Olympic record with 14 from 2000, 2004 and 2008.

Bustos retired her cleats after the 3-1 loss on home plate of the Fengtai Stadium and will forever be remembered and appreciated by the ASA and fans across the world.

By Philip Hersh

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Not only is Barack Obama viewed as an asset to Chicago’s 2016 Olympic bid, he can help women’s softball in its battle to return to the Olympics.

At least that’s the way France’s daily sports paper, L’Equipe, sees it.

A story in Wednesday’s editions of L’Equipe about the seven sports trying to get onto the Olympic program was illustrated with just one photo: Obama at the June 6 rally in Chicago after the IOC named the city one of four finalists for the 2016 Summer Games.

Said the photo caption: “Even before being elected President of the United States, Barack Obama had supported the Olympic candidature of his city. A serious lift for the city in Illinois, which is also the land of. . .softball.”

A sidebar to the main story, headlined, “Obama, the softball asset,” notes not only some specific backing Obama already has given the bid (including his video message shown at the annual meeting of the European Olympic Committees in Istanbul last month) but his potential for boosting softball.

“(In Istanbul), he appealed for votes for his city, explaining that the Games could help close the gaps between his country and the rest of the world (created) under the administration of George Bush,” L’Equipe wrote. “At the same time, he gave a push to softball, a sport born in Chicago Thanksgiving Day 1887.”

Women’s softball made its Olympic debut in 1996 and its swan song this year in Beijing, having been dropped from the program in an IOC vote three years ago.

Its first chance to return would be at the 2016 Games.

The IOC will decide in October — at the same meeting when it picks the 2016 host — whether to add any sports. Softball, baseball (also eliminated after 2008), golf, rugby sevens, squash, karate and roller sports all are campaigning for an Olympic place. No more than two can make it, and the IOC could choose to add one or none.

With softball dropped from the 2012 Olympic Games, Crystl Bustos is ready to try baseball.

After winning Olympic gold medals in 2000 and 2004 and a silver medal this past summer in Beijing, Bustos, 31, is considering an offer to play minor league baseball for the Tucson Toros, a professional independent team that was formerly a farm club for the Astros.

“I’m looking into it as a possibility. I think I can do it,” said Bustos, who resides in Valencia and played high school softball at Canyon High.

Bustos said she has retired from USA Softball but might stick around as a coach.

“I left my cleats at home plate in Beijing. I knew it was going to be over for me, whether we won or lost,” Bustos said. “I just want to focus on other things. By the time softball would be in the Olympics again, I’d be 39, and that’s stretching it a bit.”

OLYMPIC softballer Danielle Stewart has been named as an international media ambassador for the BackSoftball campaign to have the sport reinstated as an Olympic sport for the 2016 Games.
Stewart, 27, of Manly West, is one of 12 women’s players who will represent their countries at international events to help spread the word.

Stewart said she was honoured to be invited to be part of the “passionate’’ bid to reinstate the sport.
“From what we experienced in Beijing, it was obvious softball was a greater spectator sport than many others and didn’t deserve to be taken off the Olympics calendar,’’ she said. “I am not certain yet just what the BackSoftball campaign will entail, apart from aggressively promoting the sport at every opportunity.’’

Two-time American Olympian Michele Smith will serve as chairwoman for the group, the members of which will receive education on dealing with media, particularly in relation to Olympic reinstatement efforts.

Deep disappointment became obvious among softball-playing countries at this year’s Beijing Olympics when it was confirmed the sport was off the list for the 2012 London Games. Despite solid public support in Beijing, softball remained on the outer which only added to the determination to have it reinstated.

For Stewart, life since Beijing has become more hectic through medal parades, speaking engagements and the BackSoftball promotion. “It’s busy but it’s fun and I am still playing and enjoying softball,’’ she said.

Plant City, Florida, USA; 21st November 2008: The list of softball players from around the world that have been chosen to participate in the Athlete Ambassadors program was announced today. A list of twelve females that will complement the current efforts of the BackSoftball campaign was revealed by International Softball Federation President Don Porter.

The list shows representation from all five regions: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania, and eight of the dozen athletes are Olympians.

Mr. Porter indicated that the process by which these individuals have been chosen began with nominations that were solicited in September from among the ISF’s member federations, who responded “in good numbers.” He said, “We thank not only the national governing bodies that submitted candidates, but certainly all of these athletes that are so willing to help our efforts to get softball reinstated for the Olympics in 2016. The Games are all about the athletes and though we’ve had some assisting with BackSoftball already, this program will formalize and more deeply involve some of the very same girls that are ambassadors of not only our sport, but of Olympic softball.”

Two-time Olympian Michele Smith (USA Softball, 1996 & 2000) will serve in a chairperson role for the group, which consists of the following:

NAME (Position) COUNTRY HIGHLIGHT

Lynn Alexander (OF) South Africa Played in 2007 Africa/Europe Olympic qualifier

Alison Bradley (OF) Canada Two-time Olympian (2004 & 2008)

Daniela Castellani (P/1B) Italy Two-time Olympian (2000 & 2004)

Luciola Figueroa (C) Puerto Rico Played in 2007 Americas Olympic qualifier

Gergana Handjiyska (IF) Bulgaria Played in 2007 Africa/Europe Olympic qualifier

Saskia Kosterink (OF) Netherlands 2008 Olympian

Jessica Mendoza (OF) USA Two-time Olympian (‘04 – gold medal, ‘08 – silver)

Chueh Ming Hui (P) Chinese Taipei 2008 Olympian

Rubilena Rojas (OF) Venezuela 2008 Olympian

Danielle Stewart (IF) Australia 2008 Olympian (bronze medalist)

Zhou Yi (OF) China Two-time Olympian (2004 & 2008)

Sibylle Züercher (P) Switzerland Played in ‘07 European Women’s Championship

The ISF is already underway with plans to host the Athlete Ambassadors at its world headquarters here in January, with exact dates soon to be announced. In addition to being further educated on the BackSoftball campaign they will receive tutelage on dealing with the media, especially in relation to the Olympic reinstatement efforts. Other guest presenters besides Michele Smith will be on-hand to speak to the attendees as well.

The Athlete Ambassadors will represent softball at different international events and be utilized to garner more support from other softball players as well as influential people in various international audiences. Although the ISF already has an Athletes Commission that meets every other year at its Congress, this initiative is the most aggressive in putting softball players at the forefront of the steps being taken to get the International Olympic Committee, at their Session in October 2009 in Denmark, to vote to reinstate the sport to the Summer Games for 2016.

ISF Director of Competition Laurie Gouthro, herself a former softball player and coach, will oversee the Athlete Ambassadors program.

Canadian softball player Alison Bradley is being tapped to help get her sport back into the Olympics.
Bradley, a two-time Olympian from Pinkerton, Ont., was one of 12 players named Friday by the International Softball Federation to its Athlete Ambassadors program.

Canada’s Alison Bradley runs to first base during Olympic Womens Softball game action against Chinese Taipei in Beijing August 12, 2008.

Softball, along with baseball, were removed from the Olympic program following this past summer’s Games in Beijing.

However, through its BackSoftball campaign and its ambassadors program, the ISF is fighting to bring the sport back into the Olympics for the 2016.

“We thank not only the national governing bodies that submitted candidates, but certainly all of these athletes that are so willing to help our efforts to get softball reinstated for the Olympics in 2016,” ISF president Don Porter said Friday in a statement.

“The Games are all about the athletes and though we’ve had some assisting with BackSoftball already, this program will formalize and more deeply involve some of the very same girls that are ambassadors of not only our sport, but of Olympic softball.”

Bradley, a 29-year-old outfielder, has played in several national championships, along with several international events, including the 2004 and 2008 Summer Games.

The 12 ambassadors announced Friday represent all five regions, including the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania. Eight of the players are Olympians.

The ambassadors will represent the ISF at international events and will help earn support from other softball players and influential people around the world. The aggressive campaign will culminate with a meeting at the International Olympic Committee’s session next October in Denmark.

Lausanne, Switzerland; 14th November 2008: The BackSoftball team today vowed to make softball the most inclusive sport on the planet, as it made its case to return to the Olympic family during a compelling presentation here to the International Olympic Committee Program Commission.

Softball has been campaigning vigorously to be reinstated to the Summer Olympic Games and the BackSoftball team highlighted why recent changes and developments sit firmly alongside the values of the Olympic movement.

ISF President Don Porter was accompanied by ISF VP/North America and co-chair of the BackSoftball Task Force Dale McMann (CAN); Ms. Low Beng Choo (MAS), the world governing body’s deputy secretary general; Donna de Varona, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in swimming and co-chair of the BackSoftball Task Force; and 2008 softball Olympians Saskia Kosterink from the Netherlands and Venezuela’s Rubilena Rojas, who each competed in their first Games three months ago.

Mr. Porter underlined the significant changes that the ISF has made since 2005 when softball was voted off the 2012 Olympic program, including increasing the number of federations to 127, improving education programs, promoting and providing coaching and equipment in under-developed areas, and making rule changes to enhance the spectator experience and add to the sport’s conduciveness to television broadcasts.

Mr. Porter told the IOC Program Commission: “The Singapore vote was a wake-up call; it was a chance, for our sport to change and improve. And we have seized that chance with both hands. We have already changed and will continue to change for the better. We are constantly listening and learning. Our mission is to make softball the most inclusive team sport on the planet.”

Ms. Kosterink and Ms. Rojas spoke passionately about the continued success softball had enjoyed throughout the hugely successful Beijing Olympic Games this summer, highlighting the sellout crowds, close nature of many games, significant positive global media coverage, and the competition’s continued record of no positive doping tests.

But Ms. Rojas went further, underlining how softball had made a difference to her life and how she believed it was acting as a force for good in society. She said, “I found a sport that didn’t judge me; it asked no questions when it welcomed me into its family. I found a sport that helped me set and reach ever higher targets. Softball gave me an education and led me to coaching and to a job. It is a sport that allowed me to become someone. An Olympian.”

Donna de Varona explained to the Program Commission that softball’s continuing legacy sits firmly in line with the Olympic vision and values.

As well as the inaugural Youth World Cup that will be played next year in Prague, softball is working tremendously hard to help increase the number of women participating in sport as well as continuing to expand its global educational projects to help communities and promote a healthy lifestyle among young people.

Among other comments made during her portion of the presentation, Ms. De Varona said, “Softball was the key to help unlock so many injustices around the world. Softball has been instrumental in allowing women and girls to play sport in some of the most restricted countries in the world. Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq. Put simply: Softball has resulted in millions more women and girls playing sport today. The Olympic Games has been the inspiration.”

The BackSoftball delegation was given one hour – 30 minutes to speak, and another half-hour for questions and answers – to make its presentation to the IOC Program Commission, which is chaired by Franco Carraro and includes Frank Fredericks, Craig Reedie, and Sam Ramsamy among its 17 members.

Softball is competing for a place in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, with two sports set to be added to the current roster of 26 when the IOC meets in Copenhagen in October next year.

Softball was first featured in the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996 and this year’s competition in Beijing, which was won by Japan, was hugely successful with a total attendance close to 180,000 and a continuation of the sport’s excellent record of no positive drug tests in major competitions.

Further information is available in the OTHER DOCUMENTS section of www.BackSoftball.com.

GENEVA: Leaders of baseball and softball, along with five other sports seeking inclusion in the 2016 Summer Games, will present their cases Friday to the International Olympic Committee.

Golf, karate, roller sports, rugby and squash officials also will meet the 16-member program commission, which will deliver an influential report to the IOC’s top decision-making body before the vote by IOC members in October.

The IOC will field 28 sports at the 2016 Olympics, allowing two sports to be added.

Each sport has a one-hour slot, with baseball making the first pitch in the closed-door presentations in Lausanne, Switzerland. Baseball and softball were dropped after the Beijing Games because they did not receive enough votes in 2005 to remain on the 2012 program.

To win reinstatement, baseball must show the IOC it can deliver major league players to the Olympics, which is held during the second half of the regular season. Detroit Tigers center fielder Curtis Granderson will speak as part of the IBAF’s maximum six-person delegation.

“We want to do our best to tell the story of baseball,” International Baseball Federation president Harvey Schiller told The Associated Press on Thursday. “We wanted to bring a player that is a star now and also a star of the future. Curtis is young enough to be able to participate eight years from now.”

Softball made its debut at the 1996 Atlanta Games and the Americans swept three consecutive Olympic gold medals before losing to Japan in the final in Beijing.

The International Softball Federation has distanced itself from baseball in an attempt to win back its place in the Olympics. Baseball and softball lost inclusion by a single vote in Singapore three years ago.

ISF president Don Porter will be joined by Olympic players Saskia Kosterink of the Netherlands and Rubilena Rojas of Venezuela.

The key sessions Friday come before the vote by 100 IOC members next year in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The case for golf, last played at the Olympics in 1904, will be presented by the International Golf Federation. It’s led by PGA executive Ty Votaw and Peter Dawson of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, Scotland.

The World Karate Federation, with 180 national federations, hopes the global appeal will be attractive to the IOC. It proposes awarding 10 gold medals in five classes for men’s and women’s competitions.

The International Federation for Roller Sports proposes road races on city streets, but no rink hockey or skateboarding.

Rugby fell from the Olympic program in 1924 and wants to return with the seven side, shorter version of the game for men and women, rather than the more established 15-side competition.

The World Squash Federation will emphasize its television-friendly, glass-enclosed courts. Its delegation includes IOC member Prince Tunku Imran of Malaysia and former world champions Jahangir Khan of Pakistan and Sarah Fitzgerald of Australia.

Franco Carraro of Italy is the chair of the program commission. He’s one of eight IOC members who will question the delegations before presenting a report to the executive board.

The board meets in June to make recommendations to the full IOC membership. A simple majority is needed for a sport to be voted onto the program.

The IOC also will select the 2016 host city during the Copenhagen session. Chicago, Madrid, Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro are the candidates.

In a move to be reinstated onto the Olympic Program in 2016 after a highly successful Beijing Olympic Games, the International Softball Federation (ISF) Thursday launched sweeping plans to ensure complete independence for all 131 national softball federations around the world.

According to a press release, legislation enacted at the ISF Congress decreed that ISF members (national federations) may not be constitutionally linked to a national federation of any other sport. The ISF has now set a timeline for complete separation with a program offering assistance to help national softball federations achieve compliance within two years.

The move is set to confirm the growing reputation of softball as a stand-alone sport of great stature across the globe and will also help eradicate any confusion in the Olympic Movement, clarifying once and for all that softball is a fully independent international sport federation with independent national federations, said the press release.

ISF President Don Porter, in Lausanne Switzerland for the Beijing Olympic Games Debriefing for international federations, said, “this is a vital step in the BackSoftball campaign. It is of fundamental importance that softball federations have complete autonomy in their territories in order to best ensure the sport continues to grow and maximize its potential. We’re confident that all our national federations are strong enough to stand on their own, and we will, of course, help ease them through the transition period.

“This move will also prevent some of the confusion that exists surrounding softball’s links with other sports. We will also provide comprehensive support to ensure this process runs smoothly”.

Softball’s competition at the Beijing Games was extremely successful with a total attendance near 180,000 and a continuation of the sport’s excellent record of no positive drug tests in major competitions.

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Softball’s world governing body told its members they must break their ties with baseball to help the sport get back into the Olympics.

The International Softball Federation has asked 35 of its 131 national bodies that are affiliated with other sports to become independent and present a stronger identity to the Olympic movement.
Softball and baseball are competing to be restored to the 2016 Olympics after both were voted off the London 2012 program by the International Olympic Committee. Softball officials say their sport has been hurt by baseball’s doping scandals and inability to ensure the participation of top players in the Olympics.

“This move will prevent some of the confusion that exists surrounding softball’s links with other sports,” ISF president Don Porter said in a statement Thursday, adding that all members should be independent within two years. “We’re confident that all our national federations are strong enough to stand on their own.”

Softball debuted at the 1996 Atlanta Games and the United States won the first three gold medals. The U.S. lost for the first time in Beijing, falling to Japan in the gold medal match. Australia took bronze.

The IOC will vote on which sports to include in the 2016 Games at a meeting next October in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Golf, karate, sevens rugby, squash and roller sports are also contending for the two slots for new sports.

By Christine Brennan, USA TODAY
China’s government was so concerned about the possibility of athlete demonstrations in the Beijing Olympics that it created a list of nine U.S. athletes and one assistant coach it thought might cause trouble at the Games, according to an internal U.S. Olympic Committee e-mail obtained by USA TODAY.

The names included softball players Jennie Finch and Jessica Mendoza and soccer player Abby Wambach, who broke her leg and missed the Olympic Games. It also included two Paralympians, one athlete who wasn’t a member of the 2008 softball team and a top female collegiate golfer. Golf is not an Olympic sport.

“We viewed these concerns as being entirely unjustified and unwarranted,” USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel said in an e-mail Wednesday. “As such, we rejected the request to address this with our athletes or transmit the letter to them. We saw absolutely no need to burden the athletes with this.”

The list was given to USOC officials in a July 8 meeting by Shu Xiao, minister counselor for cultural affairs at the Chinese embassy in Washington, according to the e-mail.