2010 YEAR IN REVIEW
2011-01-02

Now that the calendar has changed to a new year, the temptation is to say that 2010 “is history.” For international softball, last year takes its place among the annals of the sport, with a commemorative mark on it for a special occasion that was marked. Here is a review of the goings-on in 2010 all around the world in the sport.

JANUARY The ISF announced that the next ISF Women’s World Championship (2012) will take place in Whitehorse, Yukon (Canada).
In addition, a commemorative logo was unveiled (above) to be used throughout the year and, more specifically, at the 2010 ISF women’s world championship, to recognize the 45-year anniversary of the first-ever softball world championship (five women’s national teams competed in February 1965 in Australia).
Also, the Women’s Under-19 South American Championship took place in Argentina with Venezuela defeating Brazil for the title and Argentina finishing third.

FEBRUARY ISF President Don Porter and 1st Vice President Dale McMann traveled to Antalya, Turkey, for the 35th European Softball Federation Congress. While there they presented the ISF Medal of Honor to long-time ESF Secretary General Patrice Bienfait, who was retiring after serving for 22 years. The ESF announced the formation of a new regional confederation, the South Eastern European Softball Association.

MARCH The IX South American Games – including women’s fast pitch softball – took place in Colombia, with Venezuela defeating Colombia in the gold medal game and Argentina earning the bronze.

A huge crowd watches play during the South American Games softball competition in March in Medellin, Colombia.

APRIL The 9th Central American Games were held, with men’s and women’s (fast pitch) softball taking place in Panama. The top three finishers in men’s play were Panama, El Salvador, and Honduras, with the gold medal game in women’s play also seeing Panama defeating El Salvador.

MAY The ISF added to its social media by establishing an @ISFsoftball Twitter feed. Go there now to keep up with all the tweets from the world governing body.

JUNE The longest fast pitch softball game (1st through 6th) took place near Milan, Italy. The organizer put applications in with the World Records Academy and Guinness World Record for recognition. The participants were men and women ranging from ages starting at 20 to over 60 years old. In total there were 54 players from nine countries, including Bulgaria’s Gergana Handjiyska, who was a BackSoftball Athlete Ambassador.
Also that month, softball was elevated to ‘category 2’ status with the Commonwealth Games Federation, meaning that – beginning with the 2018 Games – future host cities can now consider softball as an optional sport to add to the event programme.
And, of course, June 23 marked the beginning of the ISF XII Women’s World Championship in Caracas, Venezuela. The16-nation tournament would end on July 2 with the USA, Japan, and Canada as the medal winners – in that order – with the bronze finish marking Canada’s first medal at that event since 1978.

At a press conference in Caracas, Maria Soto speaks about being elected to the ISF Board. (Photo by Oswaldo Rodriguez)

JULY News was also made off the field as the women’s world championship was winding down, with ISF President Don Porter bestowing the world governing body’s highest recognition, the ISF Medal of Honor, on Venezuela President Hugo Chavez and then-Sports Minister Victoria Mata. In addition, the athletes competing at the world championship elected Venezuela team captain Maria Soto as the Athlete Representative on the ISF Board of Directors.

Upon returning to the world headquarters in Plant City, Florida, from the activities in Venezuela, the ISF announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Peace and Sport.
July also saw the 7th European Coed Slowpitch Championship take place in the Czech Republic. Great Britain took the title and there were eight entries, which was the highest total ever for that tournament.
The XXI Central American & Caribbean Games took place in Puerto Rico. Fast pitch softball was one of the many sports on the programme. In men’s play Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico finished 1, 2, 3, respectively. It was the same gold and silver winners on the women’s side, but Guatemala was the bronze medalist.

Jennie Finch pitches for the Americans during World Cup of Softball 5 - her last tournament in a USA uniform before retiring. (Photo courtesy of USA Softball)

Meanwhile, World Cup of Softball 5, an ISF-sanctioned invitational event, took place in Oklahoma City (USA), with extensive coverage worldwide on ESPN as well as online at espn3.com. The host American team won the gold medals.
In Vienna, Austria, the XI European Junior Girls’ Championship was held, with 15 national teams participating. Italy, Germany, and Russia finished – in that order – as the top three and, as a result, qualified for the 2011 ISF IX Jr. Women’s World Championship in South Africa.
Meanwhile, in the Czech Republic, the X European Men’s Championship took place with Denmark defeating the host team in the gold medal game and Great Britain finishing third.

Mr. Porter (3rd from right) with the two Japanese recipients of the Medal of Honor. (Photo courtesy of JSA)

AUGUST The ISF Medal of Honor was given to International Olympic Committee Members Chiharu Igaya and Shun-ichiro Okano by ISF President Porter, while he was in Sendai City for the Japan Cup, which was won by Team USA, who defeated Japan in the gold medal game. Chinese Taipei finished in third place.
In Palau, the 7th Micronesian Games took place, with both men’s and women’s fast pitch on the programme. Pohnpei defeated Guam in the gold medal game in men’s play while Palau defeated Guam in the grand final on the women’s side.
Colombia hosted the III Pan American Softball Championship for Girls, which qualified its top five finishers – USA, Canada, Puerto Rico, Brazil, and Argentina – for the December 2011 ISF junior women’s world championship in South Africa. In all, 13 national teams had participated in the Pan American tournament in Bogota.

SEPTEMBER The ISF launched a new video exclusively for the entry page to this website, which was likely in demand considering the popularity of the world governing body’s YouTube channel.

Japan coach Haruka Saito is tossed in the air by her players to celebrate their having won the softball competition at the Asian Games in China in November. (Photo courtesy of www.cfp.cn)

OCTOBER Honduras won the V Central American Jr. Men’s Championship (age 19-and-under) in El Salvador. The host country finished second and Nicaragua was third.

NOVEMBER The ISF announced the signing of an agreement with Helios Partners to acquire sponsorships on behalf of the world governing body.
And, women’s fast pitch softball was on the programme at the 16th Asian Games, held in Guangzhou, China. Japan defeated the host country for the title while Chinese Taipei finished third.

DECEMBER The 4th Asian Junior Men’s Softball Championship took place in India, with Japan defeating Singapore for the title, while the host country took the bronze medals. Those three teams have qualified for the next ISF junior men’s world championship (19-and-under), which will take place in 2012 in Argentina.
And, the Easton Foundation Youth World Cup (22 teams from eight different countries) began playing (on the 30th) in an age 16-and-under girls’ fast pitch tournament at the ISF’s world headquarters complex in Plant City, Florida. Just as the sport will keep growing in yet another year of international competition around the world, the Youth Cup will play on until a champion is crowned on January 5th. Stay tuned to ISFsoftball.org for not only the results from that tournament, but for another year of news on the global developments for the sport.