TP Bobcats 14U Fast Pitch Softball

Well, softball is definitely out for the 2012 Olympics that will be held in Great Britain. However there are a lot of fans and players who are hopeful the sport will make a come back, especially if the Olympics come to Chicago in 2016! Since this is potentially the last year for Olympic Softball, I can imagine that many softball players around the country are disappointed in the US Softball Team's 3-1 loss to Japan in the finals. On the other hand, there are a few positives to be gained from recent fastpitch events.

First of all with Japan taking the gold medal one could argue that US domination in softball is over, or at least not as great as it was in the past. There are a number of teams that provided competition for the US including Australia and Japan. Why is this good? From my perspective, softball has a better chance of making a come-back if the International Olympic Committee perceives the sport is not dominated by one country.

Secondly, the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) softball league has made huge advances in the past few years. The NPF consists of 6 teams: the Akron Racers, Chicago Bandits, New England Riptide, Philadelphia Force, Rockford Thunder, and Washington Glory. Many games are televised on local tv stations. The NPF also has a national television contract with Fox Sports (FSN). In fact, the NPF championships start on 8/21/08 (check out the schedule here) and you can watch free NPF video streams online. What's even more promising is I have heard the league is considering expanding internationally. Since 2005 the teams played games against international teams from Canada, Mexico, Russia, Venezuela, China, and Australia., so maybe we are getting closer to expansion.

Finally, there is huge interest in softball in the US of course. Some of the youth fastpitch championship games are televised on the major sports networks these days. Eventually softball will become an international sport similar to the way basketball has proliferated the globe in the last 50 years or so. Its just a matter of time.

If you are interested in bringing softball back to the Olympics, visit the International Softball or Back Softball websites.

In the meantime, Go Bobcats!