Softball's Olympic Fate May Be Decided Thursday

[bucketdad96]

This was posted on another site by an ASA representative.

For Immediate Release: 8/11/09

Softball's 2016 Olympic fate likely decided on Thursday

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — The fate of Olympic softball for the 2016 Olympic Games will likely be decided Thursday in Berlin. At a meeting of the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee, the list of seven sports up for consideration to be included in the 2016 Games will be narrowed down to two.

Competing with softball for inclusion in the Games are baseball, golf, karate, roller sports, rugby and squash. The IOC's rule-making body will shortlist two finalists during the 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. executive board session at the Intercontinental Hotel in Berlin on Thursday. Those sports will then be put forward by the 15-member Executive Board to a vote by members of the IOC on October 9.

In March, International Softball Federation President Don Porter pledged to re-double efforts to get softball reinstated to the Olympic Games in 2016 following the news that the IOC will shortlist only two sports for the IOC Session vote in Copenhagen in October.

"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 (Back Softball). If anything it has given us further incentive to work even harder at communicating the incredible value that softball offers the Olympic Movement,” Porter said in March. “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-percent 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."

Softball was first featured in the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996 and last year’s competition in Beijing was very successful with a total attendance close to 180,000 and a continuation of the sport’s excellent record of no positive doping tests at any of the four Summer Olympics that the sport has been a part of.

About ASA

The Amateur Softball Association, founded in 1933, is the National Governing Body of softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. The ASA has become one of the nation's largest sports organizations and now sanctions competition in every state through a network of 83 local associations. The ASA has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 240,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than three million. For more information on the ASA, visit http://www.asasoftball.com/.

About USA Softball

USA Softball is the brand created, operated and owned by the ASA that links the USA Men's, Women's, Junior Boys' and Junior Girls' National Team programs together. USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting these four National Teams to compete in international and domestic competitions. The USA Softball Women's National Team is one of the only two women's sports involved in the Olympic movement to capture three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1996. The U.S. women have also won eight World Championship titles including the last six consecutive as well as claimed two World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about USA Softball, please visit http://www.usasoftball.com/.




Julie Bartel
ASA/USA Softball
Director of Marketing & Communications
405-425-3463 - work
405-203-4645 - cell
jbartel@softball.org
Log on to www.asasoftball.com or www.usasoftball.com

[KekambuS]

Squash are you joking with me. It should even be next Softball & baseball. Thats a joke.

[Illwill]

Let's go through the list:

baseball - major global sport, but world games already do some of this. steroids scandals alone should mean they don't make the cut

golf - really? do we need more golf on TV? Ryder cup takes care of international competition

karate - this feels like the type of sport that should be supported by the olympics, but honestly, is it really a standalone sport in the age of Mixed Martial Arts?

roller sports - I have no idea what this means, nor do I want to know.

rugby - I could see this, but not a big U.S. sport so that's a red flag

squash - um....no.

softball - pluses: a women's sport, had great support at past olympics/world cup, big U.S. presence, rest of world getting better, has shown well on ESPN (boosting profile)

A no-brainer ; >

[pdj]

I hope the efforts pay off and softball gets included in the games, men's and women's.

[Sam]

Softball has no chance.

Even Rugby is more universal.

Golf is the no-brainer....nobody has to build a golf venue....we will likely see Tiger Woods in the 2016 games....

[Donnie]

Nobody wants to see more golf on t.v. and Tiger will be in his 40's come 2016. Women need to be on the world stage as well. I believe with the success that ESPN is having with womens softball it does have a chance Sam.Where is the faith buddy?

[TexasYellowBall]

Does anyone know the TV ratings for Softball. Olympics, World Cup, WCWS,