3 November 2011

CONGRESS HAD BIG TURNOUT
Delegates from 70 countries attended the 25th International Softball Federation Congress that ended this past Sunday in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (USA). The biennial gathering included meetings of commissions, regional confederations, and ISF partners, plus the main session that included: reports on major competitions – including new provisions to have open world championships, increased development of slow pitch, indoor, and softball for participants with intellectual disabilities, and reports on upcoming events including the Jr. Women’s World Championship in Cape Town, South Africa, next month (age 19-and-under, fast pitch).

(left to right) Softball New Zealand Chairman Rex Capil, ISF 2nd Vice President Bob Leveloff, and ISF Secretary General Ms. Low Beng Choo following a signing ceremony for the 2013 ISF Men’s World Championship.

The Congress also approved a resolution to cooperate with the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and the International Olympic Committee in determining whether a joint bid by the two sports would preserve and guarantee the interest of the members of both organizations.

The ISF also hosted presentations by two major partners, the World Games and Special Olympics International. Ron Froehlich, president of the World Games, attended the Congress, as did Special Olympics representatives Craig Pippert and Doug Liebman.

The next ISF Congress (2013) was awarded to Cartagena, Colombia, over Prague, Czech Republic. More information on the Congress will be published in the issue of World Softball magazine that will be published online at the beginning of January (in the Communications section).

Softball athletes attending the Congress included (left to right) Gergana Handjiyska (Bulgaria), Maria Soto (Venezuela), and Joey Lye (Canada)

SOFTBALL WAS AWARD FINALIST
This past Friday night in Monaco, Peace and Sport held their annual awards ceremony. Softball was one of three finalists in the category of International Federation Peace Project of the Year. The nomination was the Liga del Sur initiative in Ecuador, which was reported on via the ISF website in late August. Dr. Edgar Salazar, who was directly involved with the project, traveled from Ecuador to Monte Carlo to represent softball at last week’s ceremony.

NEW VIDEO ONLINE
The Congress also marked the debut of the ISF’s newest promotional video. Entitled “Accessible. Exciting. Global. SOFTBALL,” the production contains eight minutes of action footage, presented in three sections: Olympics, 2010 Women’s World Championship (Caracas, Venezuela), and 2009 Men’s World Championship (Saskatchewan, Canada). While the delegates were the first to see the new video, it was this morning posted on the official ISF YouTube channel for the online community to see. Visit www.youtube.com/ISFsoftball to watch it and post your comments.

As part of their continued use of social media, the ISF will also be uploading pictures from the Congress to the world governing body’s official page on Facebook, which is www.facebook.com/ISFsoftball.