Jordyn Thomure

October 10th, 2013

AP English III

Argument Rough Draft

Softball’s Integrity Is Missing

“The International Olympic Committee delivered a shocking message to softball on Friday: Yer out!” (Associated Press).

Softball has only been around in the Olympics since 1996. But, on July 6th, 2008 fast pitch softball was officially removed from the summer Olympics. The reason for this ridiculous uproar is due to USA winning 3 out of 4 of the Olympics it was in. Softball absolutely needs to be brought back into the summer Olympics. Softball takes a relentless competitor to physically play the sport, and an exceptionally large mental toughness to stay in the game. It’s because of this incredible strength that softball needs to be brought back into the summer Olympics.Softball is an extremely competitive sport in high demand at universities and colleges. “There are 286 D-I and 264 D-II schools that offer college softball scholarships… More than 200 NAIA schools also offer scholarships for softball players, each extending up to 12 scholarships per team while at NJCAA there is 362 schools currently offering…” (ICAC College recruits). If so many colleges have softball in high demand at college, why did the board of international sports officials nudge softball out?

Sports such as table tennis, trampoline, and curling are still represented in the Olympics. However these sports require little major motor skills and are not represented in many colleges at all! “Between the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico only 141 colleges have table tennis…” (National colligate table tennis). Yet there are well over 2,000 educational institutes in the United States alone. Also, only 15 schools in the United States offer collegiate curling. Yet, curling is offered in the Olympics.

The international Olympic Association said that one of the major reasons softball was eliminated from the Olympics was due to the United States dominating every year. But in the 2008 Olympics when “Japan defeated the United States 3-1 to win the gold” (Wikipedia). So how is it that the United States dominates every Olympic season when Japan beat them by a decent score?

Many people say that softball isn’t a competitive sport because it isn’t a major league sport. Actually, too many peoples surprise, there are professional fast pitch softball teams. The closest one to us is in Chicago, and they are called the Chicago Bandits. Every year they play 176 competitive league games every year, where “97 well rounded, competitive, young women athletes compete for the title” (Wikipedia).

“The birth of softball in the 1996 World Olympic Games was a great accomplishment toward worldwide acceptance of Women's team sports” (gray). Even though softball hasn’t officially been accepted back into the Olympics they are many people that support the idea and have petitions online trying to get it back. Also Jenny Finch started an organization to get fastpitch softball back. She recently did an interview talking about her and her efforts getting it back in 2020:

Interviewer: Softball had been an Olympic sport but it was voted out of the Games for 2012 and 2016. There is a campaign to get it restored for 2020. You've been involved in that fight. Can you give an update on what's happening?

Jenny Finch:FINCH: I'm blessed to be working closely with the WBSC -- World Baseball Softball Confederation -- to get it back in. We've made the short list. It's baseball/softball, squash and wrestling. One of us will be reinstated in the 2020 Olympics. The vote is in September. Just a few weeks ago, they narrowed the list down from eight to three. The first victory was getting on that list. That was a big hurdle, and you can support us by going to PlayBall2020.com. (TGD)

Fast pitch softball needs to brought back into the Olympics for many reason, but the main reason is that is it a way to get girls out and about performing and competing. When this sport got removed from the Olympics it ruined many young girls’ dreams and lifelong goals. Along with that, it was the removal of a WOMENS sport. That puts women at a bad rep. It was a blessing that women’s softball was introduced in 1991 and just for it to be removed in 2012 is nothing less than insane. Especially when the reasons don’t add up.

WORKS CITED

Associated Press, . N.p.. Web. 14 Oct 2013. <

. N.p.. Web. 14 Oct 2013. <

Gray, J.. N.p.. Web. 16 Oct 2013. <

"Jennie Finch Talks About Getting Softball Back In Olympics And Representing Capital One Cup | ThePostGame." Homepage | ThePostGame. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2013. <