FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 13, 2010

ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATED WITH NEW LOGO
ISF marks 45 years since first softball world championship

PLANT CITY, FLORIDA (USA) -- To anchor a year-long celebration, a commemorative logo was unveiled today by the International Softball Federation, marking 45 years since the first-ever softball world championship.

Created in Tampa, just west of the ISF’s world headquarters, the mark brands the celebration of the elite-level tournaments that have been played starting with the 1965 tournament in Melbourne, Australia. Five women’s national softball teams competed then and one year later the first men’s world championship was held (in Mexico City). Eventually world championships were also started in the junior women’s and junior men’s categories (age 19-and-under).

“Our sport has enjoyed many significant milestones throughout its long history and it’s important that we recognize some of the key starting points when softball was first starting to set down its now global footprint,” said ISF President Don Porter. “With our XII Women’s World Championship in Venezuela later this year at the center of it all, we want to memorialize the many years of success that these tournaments have enjoyed and those individuals that played such a key role in past editions of these events.”

Stacy Kovatch, the president of Tampa-based Blue Heron Media, who designed the logo (below), said, “Blue Heron Media would like to congratulate the ISF on this occasion of marking 45 years since its first world championship. We have been honored to have been chosen to create their anniversary logo and play a role in celebrating this momentous occasion in the sport’s history. Surely softball will continue to make memories for numerous athletes for many more years to come.”

Just two months ago the ISF re-branded with a new logo for the world governing body. The ball element of that mark has been carried over for use in the 45-year anniversary logo.

Among other applications, the ISF is hoping to develop a patch bearing the anniversary logo, to be worn on the uniform sleeve of all participating athletes, coaches, and umpires in this year’s women’s world championship (June 23-July 2 in Caracas). The commemorative item would also be made available for purchase by fans at the event as well as through the ISF’s online store, shop.internationalsoftball.com.

 

About the ISF
The ISF is the world governing body of the sport as recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and SportAccord (formerly the General Association of International Sports Federations). Softball (women's fast pitch) made its Olympic debut at the 1996 Games in Atlanta. There are 128 affiliated countries in the ISF and millions of participants in the sport worldwide.

MEDIA: For more information, please contact ISF Director of Communications Bruce Wawrzyniak at brucew@ISFsoftball.org or (813) 864-0100, ext. 229.