The International Softball Federation (ISF) has published another press release (see below), continuing their pursuit of independent Softball federations. They now have created a transition commission, which is supposed to support national softball federations in their independence plans. They claim that the process is accelerating with only 25 percent of the federations still merged with Baseball and other sports.
However in Europe the plan of the ISF isn’t getting any support. We at Mister-Baseball.com do not support these aims by ISF president Don Porter since hearing from them a few weeks ago. And it seems we are on the same page with the majority of the European Softball community. Only a few like Russia and the Czech Republic do have separate Softball federations on the old continent. Italy, the Netherlands and Germany, with probably more than 2/3 of all European Softball clubs, are against these plans. Other federations usually only have a small number of competitive teams under their helm, which cannot exist without Baseball.
Porter and the ISF don’t realize that Softball wouldn’t exist in Europe without Baseball. Financial support would be eliminated and the sport will die. The ISF claims that independent Softball federations will help in their case for reinstatement into the Olympics next year. We believe this is not true. It is even worsening their chances, as they open another battleground on an administrative level, instead of concentrating to promote the sport. It would be better to use their resources to develop the game.
Press Release International Softball Federation:
ISF announces Transition Commission to support national softball federations’ final split from Baseball
ISF President – ‘National softball federations deserve as much support as we can provide to ensure they achieve sustainable independence’
Plant City, Florida (USA); November 26th 2008: The International Softball Federation (ISF) has today announced the creation of a Transition Commission to help accelerate national softball federations’ independence from other sports including baseball.
While the ISF has always been completely independent, the aim is for all 127 national softball federations to be independent from any other sport by 2010.
The pace of independence is accelerating with less than 25% of federations still combined with baseball or other sports. The updated ISF Code restricts membership to softball-only organizations.
This is seen as a crucial action in softball’s campaign to be reinstated onto the Olympic Programme in 2016 after such a hugely successful Beijing Olympic Games this summer.
ISF President Don Porter said: “National softball federations deserve as much support as we can provide to ensure that they achieve sustainable independence. The Transition Commission will help national federations by providing commercial, administrative, and operational expertise.
“Softball is a fabulous sport in its own right and it is vital that federations have complete autonomy as soon as possible to ensure that they can implement the softball initiatives we are putting in place.
“This move further confirms our commitment to modernizing softball, a commitment we have pledged continuously to the International Olympic Committee. We are committed to extending the reach of softball to new audiences and build upon the fantastic progress we have made over the past two years.”
Legislation enacted at the ISF Congress decreed that ISF members (national federations) may not be constitutionally linked to a national federation of any other sport. Today’s announcement of the Transition Commission is the next step following the ISF’s statement late last month on the timeline set for complete separation, with a program offering assistance to help national softball federations achieve compliance within two years.
These moves confirm the growing reputation of softball as a stand-alone sport of great stature across the globe. They will also help eradicate any confusion in the Olympic Movement; it will clarify once and for all that softball is a fully independent international sport federation with independent national federations.
The ISF believes these plans are vital to the future development and growth of softball for adult women and men, youth development, and other disciplines of the sport, including Wheelchair, Beach, and Arena (indoor) Softball.
Softball was first featured in the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996 and this 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.
Further details on the Olympic reinstatement campaign are available in the OTHER DOCUMENTS section of www.BackSoftball.com