Softball


Background

Records show that George Hancock created the game in 1887 during a meeting of the Yale and Harvard alumni who had gathered to hear the score of the annual football game.  The story is told that a Yale alumnus threw a boxing glove at a Harvard alumnus who then hit the glove with a stick.  George Hancock took the boxing glove, tied a ball inside, and a broomstick handle was used as the first bat.  A game ensued with the final score 44 - 40, however, the winner is unknown.  A week after this pickup game, Hancock developed an undersized bat and a ball with a circumference of 16 inches.  A set of rules were established for the game, which then became known as “Indoor - Outdoor”.

Softball made its Olympic debut at the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta.  The Canadian Women’s team has qualified for every Olympic Games since 1996 and while not winning a medal at the 2008 Beijing Games, they placed fourth and had a strong Olympic tournament.  Women’s Softball has been dropped from the Olympic program for the next two Games, but we are confident it will again be part of the Olympics.  Men’s Softball is not included in the Olympic program, but they play in a World Championship.  The Canadian Senior Men’s teams consistently place first or second in the world.  In the 2008 Junior Men’s’ World Championship, played in Whitehorse, Canada won the Silver Medal losing the Gold to Australia 2 - 1 in an exciting and hard fought final game.

There are 126 countries that are registered with the International Softball Federation and many more countries that play the game.

Athlete Development

At the BC Summer Games, athletes ages 11 - 14 (Squire and PeeWee) will compete for Zone All-Star teams.  Most of the BC Summer Games Softball athletes started playing Softball at the age of five or six in their local community associations at the Learn to Play or T-Ball level.  Through their continued involvement in the game and their desire to achieve success, these athletes now want to take their game to a higher level of competition and the BC Summer Games allows for this to happen.

The BC Summer Games is the first step for the athletes, coaches, and officials on the road to elite level competitions - Western Canada Games, Canada Games and Worlds.  The BC Summer Games program is the first step for Softball BC athletes towards development for the Team BC program.  For example, some of the athletes on Team BC at the 2009 Canada Games were alumni from the 2002 BC Summer Games.  The BC Summer Games experience and success helped Team BC win the Canada Games gold medal in the women’s tournament and the men’s team played a strong and competitive U19 Invitational Tournament in P.E.I. with elite teams from all of Canada and from around the world. 

Coaches must be certified NCCP level II to coach a Zone team.  This requirement helps to ensure that the athletes get the best training possible by someone who also wants to learn more about the game and the ability to teach the game.  The ultimate goal for these athletes, coaches, and officials is to be recognized nationally and internationally for their skill, knowledge of the game, and sportsmanship.

For more info on Softball, contact the BC Amateur Softball Association at www.softball.bc.ca or (604) 531-0044.