1. As far as World Championship competitions go, the United States dominates the
women teams and Australia has claimed the most wins out of the mens teams.
2. The original game of softball was played with a 16" ball soft enough that the
fielders did not use gloves.
3. Softball has become one of the most popular sports to participate in for the
United States.
4. There are over 40 million people that have played softball at sometime in their
life.
5. A Yale alumnus threw a soft boxing glove at a Harvard supporter who grabbed a
stick and swung at it- hence the term "softball".
6. Fast pitch softball became widespread and dominant over the first developed slow
pitch, by the 1940's.
7. The first appearance of women's fast pitch softball at the Summer Olympics
occurred in 1996 games.
8. Softball became a NCAA sport in 1910 with a College World Series held each year.
9. The Amateur Softball Association (ASA) was founded in 1933 in Oklahoma City.
They have evolved into the strongest softball organization in the country
leading them to become the National Governing Body of Softball.
10. Softball has become popular for kids and with youth softball
instructions starting as young as 5 or 6 years old. The
competitive leagues are basically Little League, Babe Ruth, PONY, ASA and other
variations on these. But, unlike youth baseball, Little League is not the gold
standard in softball. Serious softball players compete in ASA and PONY
tournaments with The PONY Nationals being viewed as the highest standing.
11. The field of play for softball is flat, no raised mound, and has a
"skin"
(dirt) infield. The reason softball is played on a skin field is
because it
is essentially a faster game than baseball. Grass slows
down the speed of
ground balls.
12. Softball was first played in 1887 after the Harvard/Yale football game.
13. In 1982, the first NCAA Division I Softball Championship was contested in Omaha,
Neb. UCLA shutout Fresno State 2-0 in eight innings to claim the inaugural
title.
14. The NCAA Division Softball Championship began with a 16-team bracket in 1982.
The bracket expanded to 20 teams in 1988, 32 teams in 1994 and 48 teams in 1999,
before reaching its current format of 64 teams in 2003.
15. Of the 64 teams currently selected to participate in the NCAA Division I
Softball Championship, 30 teams receive automatic qualification to the
tournament by winning their respective conference titles. The remaining 34 teams
are selected on an at-large basis. The top 16 teams in the bracket are seeded.
http://10-facts-about.com
http://ncaa.com
women teams and Australia has claimed the most wins out of the mens teams.
2. The original game of softball was played with a 16" ball soft enough that the
fielders did not use gloves.
3. Softball has become one of the most popular sports to participate in for the
United States.
4. There are over 40 million people that have played softball at sometime in their
life.
5. A Yale alumnus threw a soft boxing glove at a Harvard supporter who grabbed a
stick and swung at it- hence the term "softball".
6. Fast pitch softball became widespread and dominant over the first developed slow
pitch, by the 1940's.
7. The first appearance of women's fast pitch softball at the Summer Olympics
occurred in 1996 games.
8. Softball became a NCAA sport in 1910 with a College World Series held each year.
9. The Amateur Softball Association (ASA) was founded in 1933 in Oklahoma City.
They have evolved into the strongest softball organization in the country
leading them to become the National Governing Body of Softball.
10. Softball has become popular for kids and with youth softball
instructions starting as young as 5 or 6 years old. The
competitive leagues are basically Little League, Babe Ruth, PONY, ASA and other
variations on these. But, unlike youth baseball, Little League is not the gold
standard in softball. Serious softball players compete in ASA and PONY
tournaments with The PONY Nationals being viewed as the highest standing.
11. The field of play for softball is flat, no raised mound, and has a
"skin"
(dirt) infield. The reason softball is played on a skin field is
because it
is essentially a faster game than baseball. Grass slows
down the speed of
ground balls.
12. Softball was first played in 1887 after the Harvard/Yale football game.
13. In 1982, the first NCAA Division I Softball Championship was contested in Omaha,
Neb. UCLA shutout Fresno State 2-0 in eight innings to claim the inaugural
title.
14. The NCAA Division Softball Championship began with a 16-team bracket in 1982.
The bracket expanded to 20 teams in 1988, 32 teams in 1994 and 48 teams in 1999,
before reaching its current format of 64 teams in 2003.
15. Of the 64 teams currently selected to participate in the NCAA Division I
Softball Championship, 30 teams receive automatic qualification to the
tournament by winning their respective conference titles. The remaining 34 teams
are selected on an at-large basis. The top 16 teams in the bracket are seeded.
http://10-facts-about.com
http://ncaa.com