International Softball Federation President Don Porter hailed softball's Transition Commission’s work as a crucial part of the sport's campaign to be reinstated to the Olympic Programme.
His comments came at the conclusion of the first meeting of the Transition Commission on Membership, established by the International Softball Federation to help some of its member national federations achieve independence from other sports.
“The Commission will work with those national federations presently linked with other sports to assist them in gaining their own independent status,” the ISF president explained. “This is an important step in removing any confusion that exists within the Olympic Movement.
“Recently three federations have moved to independent status. Their experiences will provide an example to the remaining federations moving forward.”
Porter noted, “Our (ISF) rules offer membership to softball-only organisations and we want to work closely with those federations which presently are affiliated with other sports.
“The Commission recognises the challenges that this goal presents.
“As a first step, we will be working directly with each of these federations to resolve their specific concerns and needs. We have promised support for our federations during this process and their responses will be important in determining what level of support is required,” Porter said.
Softball Australia vice president Darryl Clout is the chair of the Transition Commission on Membership. Other attendees included ISF Secretary General Andy Loechner, Deputy Secretary General Ms. LOW Beng Choo, and representatives from Africa, the Americas, and Europe. The group convened at the ISF world headquarters.
Softball was first featured in the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996, and last year’s competition in Beijing, which was won by Japan, was hugely successful with a total attendance close to 180,000 and a continuation of the sport’s excellent record of no positive drug tests in major competitions.
