Some of the attendees at the recent umpiring clinic in China.

SOFTBALL STILL ON THE MOVE IN CHINA
2009-04-01

The host country for last year’s Olympic softball competition was the site of some playing and umpiring activity recently.

The Chinese Softball National Tournament consisted of eleven women’s fast pitch teams in a competition that spanned eight days. Held in Hongge Town, PanZhiHua, Sichuan, the event featured no fewer than eight athletes who were on China’s roster at last year’s Summer Games in Beijing, including outfielder Zhou Yi who is a BackSoftball Athlete Ambassador.

Jiangsu defeated the host province, Sichuan, 6-2, in the Championship Game, with Liaoning coming in third, followed by Guangdong and Beijing to round out the top five finishers.

The Chinese National Softball Tournament serves as a qualifier for another major softball competition that will be held later this year when the sport is part of the 11th National Games, a multi-sport event held every four years.

In conjunction with the recent tournament was an umpiring clinic put on there by International Softball Federation Director of Umpires Bob Stanton. That activity included three days of classes followed by three days on the fields, where evaluations were done of the 30 umpires in attendance. Topics included game control, obstruction, interference, plate & base mechanics, and both the 3- and 4-umpire systems.

Mr. Stanton expressed hope that in the future an umpire certification seminar can be held in China, which is where the ISF hopes to establish its next regional training center, joining the Dominican Republic, Italy, and Russia (in addition to the world headquarters complex in Florida, USA).

China is also the site of next year’s 16th Asian Games, which will once again include women’s fast pitch softball (November 12-27, 2010 in Guangzhou).