1st World University Softball Championship
Plant City - Florida, USA - October 26th to 31st, 2004
Home Made Championship
“This World University Championship is an exceptional opportunity to promote softball all over the world”.
Softball in Plant City
Softball is one of the new sports peppering the FISU World Championship programme this year. A variant of baseball, this sport is very popular in the United States. The International Softball Federation was founded in 1952 and the first World (civil) Championship of this discipline took place in 1965 when five teams met in Australia. In 1991, softball became an Olympic sport and received an Olympic medal for the first time at the Atlanta Games of 1996. The impetus for adding this sport to the FISU programme came from the International Softball Federation. This proved to be a wise move on the part of ISF when FISU unanimously accepted its bid to organise the First World University Softball Championship in Plant City (USA), host town of the ISF headquarters.
Team Netherlands
We could not have dreamt of a better location for this event than Plant City. Located 45 minutes from the city of Orlando (Florida) and enjoying an exceptional climate, the city also boasts an ultra-modern stadium with four pitches, allocated entirely to the softball competitions. Since ISF moved its headquarters from Oklahoma City to Plant City, four years ago, the federation has organised many major events including the Junior Girls World Cup in 2001 and 2003 as well as the “Slow Pitch World Cup” in June 2002. The ISF intends to continue in this direction.
Team Chinese Taipei
Opening Ceremony
Don Porter, President of ISF and of the Organising Committee, welcomed the participants to the Opening Ceremony that took place in the stadium. In his speech he thanked FISU for including softball in its programme. The President of the National University Sports Federation of the United States (United States Collegiate Sports Council), Mr Gary Cunningham then took the floor to express his satisfaction with the success encountered by this first edition and to wish the participants well. Mr Chen Tai-Cheng, FISU Assessor followed by emphasising that the future of softball in FISU is assured as the second World University Championship of this discipline will be organised in his country, Chinese Taipei, in 2006. Finally, the President of FISU was invited to open the championship in person. Mr George E. Killian thanked the delegations for coming and underlined the importance of the cultural exchanges that, in his view, should accompany such an event. To conclude, he thanked the Organising Committee for its excellent work. After the hoisting of the FISU flag the participants enjoyed a folk performance.
An Exceptional Opportunity
For Don Porter, ISF President, this World University Championship was ‘an exceptional opportunity to promote softball all over the world’. “Many of the players present here also participated in the Athens Olympic Games, which demonstrates the high standard of this championship”. While engrossed in watching a game, it is easy to forget that softball is a sport that requires real athletic prowess. “Competition softball has very little in common with the softball that is played for leisure by more than 30 million people in the United States.” Here we are referring to ‘fast pitch’, the best women pitchers can reach a speed of 70mph (+/- 112kph).
Olympic Stars
Eight teams participated in this first edition of the World University Softball Championship. Among them were excellent players such as Lixia Zhang (pitcher) from the Chinese team. The Chinese Taipei team included five former participants in the Athens Olympics. The local team “USA Elite” included renowned players like Monica Abbot who won the silver medal at the Junior World Championships in Nanjing (CHN, October 2004). Finally, the Australian team relied on Jocelyn McCallum (pitcher) whose team took the bronze medal at the World Junior Championship.
Gold for USA
The local team displayed the most consistency during this first tournament, winning 1-0 in a closely-fought final against Chinese Taipei. With an impenetrable defence, the Chinese Taipei team was able to resist the attacks of the US players. Nevertheless, the host team found their opponents’ weak point and managed to capture the gold medal. The Japanese team finished in a well-deserved third place. It was generally agreed that this championship was a true success, a good sign for the second World University Softball Championship – the 2006 edition is to be held in Tainan City, Chinese Taipei.
Organizing Committee
International Softball Federation 1900 South Park Road Plant City - FL 33563 - USA phone: (1.813)8640100 fax: (1.813)8640105
Final Ranking
1. USA - Gold 2. TPE - Silver 3. JPN - Bronze 4. CAN 5. AUS 6. NED 7. CHN 8. GUA
Gold medallist Team USA
TPE vs. NED
NED vs. GUA
