By Wes Holtsclaw (wholtsclaw@starhq.com)
JOHNSON CITY — Softball is alive and well in East Tennessee.
If you were one of the 3,476 that attended the Olympic exhibition between the United States National Women’s team and Milligan College, you have no doubts about that statement.
Sunday’s game at Cardinal Park was a testament to the growth of softball in the previous 20 years.
Who would’ve imagined 20 years ago that a softball game would deliver the biggest crowd in the minor league baseball park’s history?
The fact that Milligan College became the first NAIA school to play Team USA in 2008 tells you how deep and competitive the sport has become in this country on a collegiate basis.
From Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to the Santa Monica Pier in California, softball has risen as a top sport for male and female athletes across the United States.
It has also become a top sport internationally — particularly, the women’s fast-pitch version of the game.
Unfortunately, there are some who don’t feel that way. In particular, the International Olympic Committee.
In the summer of 2005, members of the IOC voted to eliminate softball and baseball from the 2012 Olympic games — two sports that worked very hard for many years to be included in the 1990’s.
Softball representatives worked to get the sport included for over 30 years before its debut in the 1996 Olympics. The idea of the sport’s removal has many of those same representatives already fighting to bring it back in 2016, as they should.
Since joining the Olympics, softball has increased exposure to women’s sports throughout the globe and provided some of the event’s biggest stars on an international basis, including Team USA’s Jenny Finch, Cat Osterman, Laura Berg and Lisa Fernandez, among others.
“I’ve been blessed to see the sport from the infant stages when we couldn’t get television and didn’t have facilities to play in,” said Team USA coach Mike Candrea, who has won eight NCAA titles as head coach at Arizona. “I’d always felt that softball was a great sport and if we could intrigue universities to build facilities that we could get people to fill the stands.
“We’ve done that and the sport’s grown tremendously I think foremost because of the ‘96 games in Atlanta. I think that gave it a boost in the arm and it’s continued to grow through the College World Series over the year and, obviously, the Olympic team. Many of these kids here have become the icons of the sport and have become really good ambassadors. They’ve done a good job reaching down to the grassroots and making kids excited about playing softball.”
When the announcement was made three years ago, Finch and others took the news hard. But they didn’t quit. They kept playing to make a statement.
“This is our game, our sport, our lives. This is what we do,” Finch said Sunday. “For us it was a blow. When you come so far, and it’s been exciting to see how far our sport has grown and where we’ve been, for that to happen is a shock. We’re not going to let that deter our sport. We’re going to keep fighting and pushing through.”
Television ratings for softball are much higher than over half of the sports at the games. Not only that, but the game has drastically grown internationally since 1996.
The number of nations playing softball now stands at over 130, ranking softball 14th on the list of the Olympics’ 28 sports.
And just because the United States has won gold in the event the previous three Olympics doesn’t mean that there isn’t stiff competition throughout the globe.
China, Australia and Japan are three countries that have grown into the sport and could provide the team that eventually could unseat the Americans.
“I’m sure (they’re as disappointed), if not even more so,” Finch said. “You have a talented college game here and our sport is huge here, but when you go to Japan and China, it’s their one chance for a medal and even more so heartbreaking for them.”
Come August in Beijing, Finch and company will be out to make the statement that softball belongs in 2012 or any other year.
“It’s a huge blow to the sport in general, but we’re not going to let that effect us,” Finch said. “We’re going to use these Beijing games to showcase our sport and prove we belong in the Olympics.”
As they should.
“I think you have great athletes here that love to compete,” said Candrea. “What motivates them is to play the game and play it at a high level. We really feel like we don’t have any control over what’s going to happen in the future. All we can do is go out there and do our job and let the politics take care of themselves.”
After the games, and hopefully a fourth consecutive gold medal, the United States coach said international softball supporters have to take the fight to Europe.
“After the Olympic games in August, possibly many of us will be called upon to do some stuff and maybe help get the sport the boost that we need,” Candrea added. “The trouble is the boost that we need is to get in front of the voters in Europe. I’m not so sure we can do anything unless we take our game and take Japan, Australia and China, and go to Europe and sit there and tour for a year and show them what the game is really like.
I.O.C. President Dr. Jacques Rogge and others may not believe in the sport, but their opposition towards softball’s reinstatement in 2012, 2016 or any other year won’t destroy the sport.
Coaches such as Candrea and players like Finch won’t let that happen. Neither will collegiate coaches like Wes Holly, high school coaches such as Ronnie Hicks or longtime players like Jarfly Dugger or Bud Whitehead on a local level.
Little girls will continue to grow into the game. Men will keep playing their version of slow and fast-pitch. Team USA will stay strong and keep fighting.
“We’ve grown accustomed to being an Olympic sport,” Candrea continued. “That’s the ultimate in our sport and I don’t think we’re going to give it up without a fight. I think we’re prepared for it.”
If anything, Sunday’s exhibition gave Team USA 3,476 reasons to do just that.
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