Softball &
Baseball:
Taking Their Case
To The Olympics
Softball and baseball players and
fans around the world were holding
their breath for the vote of the
International Olympic Committee
(IOC) in Buenos Aires recently about
which sport would be added back
into the Olympic Games: wrestling,
baseball/softball or squash.
Unfortunately for softball fans,
wrestling—one of the original
Olympic sports—defeated the other
contenders to win the spot in the
2020 Olympic Games.
However, Amateur Softball
Association (ASA)/USA Softball isnʼt
giving up the hopes of once again
joining the program. "Unfortunately,
we are on the outside looking in right
now, but weʼre still trying to find a
way to get our sport back on the program for the future," said Ron
Radigonda, executive director of
ASA/USA Softball. "We know we
have a good sport, so we just need
to work through the rules and regulations to continue to try to get the
sport back to the Olympics."
The last year softball was played in
the Olympics was 2008 in Beijing,
China. Luckily, the sport still has a
chance to make a return to the
Games. The IOC will possibly be
tweaking the program in the future,
which could make room in the program for baseball and softball. The
national foverning bodies of the
sports combined their efforts in a bid
to return to the Games.
"Right now, we are just going to sit
back and wait until we know whatʼs
going to happen with that possibility
and what the IOCʼs next steps are
going to be," Radigonda said. "Once
we know the process, weʼll be back
to pushing to get the sport back on
the program." ■
www.SportsEventsMagazine.com
2014 Baseball/Softball Sourcebook
51