Since the Back Softball campaign and blueprint were launched in June, the ISF said that several nations have signed up to become Member Federations - notably Jordan and Sierra Leone, bringing the total to 130 national softball federations under the ISF umbrella.
And in order to further broaden the reach of softball to young people, the ISF has recently entered into discussions with the International University Sports Federation (FISU) about staging joint programs.
On its efforts to increase female participation in all areas of the sport, the ISF said it will stage worldwide seminars to secure more female officials. The first event will be a global Female Umpire Forum at the ISF headquarters at the end of this week with a further seminar for female umpires during the October 24 - 27 ISF Congress in Manila.
The ISF has also started a major programme to develop a wheelchair discipline of softball for submission to the International Paralympic Committee for future inclusion of the sport in the Paralympic Games and has distributed softball equipment worth nearly USD$250,000 to 19 developing nations. This has been supported by coaching help where appropriate.
International TV coverage has increased this year, with the sport enjoying coverage from six events from June to August alone.
ISF President Don Porter said, “The Back Softball campaign has given us a focus and real momentum. As a result we have already made great strides in increasing the global participation and inclusiveness of softball. We have much more to achieve but we are definitely on track. We firmly believe that softball will add great value to the Olympic Movement for generations to come which is why we are moving up a gear with our campaigning.”
In the month ahead, there will be a strong Back Softball presence in the form of an exhibition at Sportel in Monaco, October 15-18. This is to further increase the number and quality of global television partners for the sport. Back Softball will be also actively promoted at all major forthcoming events, including the China Cup, which is a final test event for Beijing 2008.
The ISF is then devoting a workshop to Back Softball at their Congress next month in Manila. This is to fully engage and empower all the National Softball Federations to take an active role in the campaign to re-instate softball as an Olympic sport.
