International Softball Federation

UNIVERSITY SOFTBALL GROWING IN ENGLAND
2011-05-18

Just last week the International Softball Federation announced that Colorado Springs, Colorado (USA), will host the III World University Softball Championship in August of next year.

Now, news comes from overseas of more opportunities for university softball in England.

As part of the Active Universities programme, Sport England has recently named 41 sports projects that will benefit from a £10 million National Lottery fund to get more university students playing sport. The Active Universities projects will give tens of thousands of students the chance to try out a new sport, or get back into one they have tried before, as part of the mass participation legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Members of the development staff at the British Softball Federation have been working to persuade universities to offer softball as part of their sporting and social programs through this scheme.

Three universities have already indicated that they will be delivering softball activity through the Active Universities programme.

Brunel University in the South East and both Nottingham and Warwick Universities in the Midlands will be providing softball for their students over the coming months. The aforementioned development staff will be working closely with these universities to ensure that a high quality program is planned, delivered, and experienced by large numbers of students in these institutions.

Many universities are still in the process of planning activities, and the BSF staff will be working hard over the coming weeks to generate interest and additional demand.

The university sector is a key focus area for the BSF to grow the numbers of people playing softball. The staff is also eager, where possible, to link new activity into the local playing community around each university to ensure sustainability.

Through its “Softball in the Schools” program the ISF actively encourages all of its member federations to make the sport more accessible to students of all ages.