(Attached photo, left to right: Jessica Mendoza, HRH Prince Tunku Imran, and Michele Smith hold the team scrolls that were used in conducting the draw for the Youth World Cup.) (Photo by Steve Crecelius, Wonder Works Studios)
Softball’s Olympic Credentials Enhanced by
Youth World Cup Draw
Pools Set for Tournament to be Held in Prague in August
Denver, Colorado (USA); 25th March 2009: International Olympic Committee (IOC) Member HRH Prince Tunku Imran (Malaysia) was a key part of a draw conducted here yesterday afternoon at softball’s exhibit at the ongoing SportAccord conference. Prince Imran was joined by two-time Olympic softball athletes Jessica Mendoza and Michele Smith as the teams that will participate in the Easton Foundation Youth Softball World Cup were slotted into pools.
A total of twelve countries will field a team in the 16-and-under girls’ fast pitch competition scheduled for August 9-16 in the Czech Republic. With the IOC’s future emphasis on youth, the event is set to underline softball’s strong case for inclusion on the Olympic Games Programme in 2016.
International Softball Federation President Don Porter was on-hand for the draw, saying, “We were honored to have an IOC Member along with two key participants in our Athlete Ambassadors program conducting the draw for the Youth World Cup. The event is certainly shaping up as one that will be world-class and this is just the latest development in the ongoing preparations for the tournament.”
Prince Imran and the two athletes conducted the draw region-by-region for the participating teams that will represent Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe. The pools were set as follows, with the order being how they were drawn:
POOL A POOL B
South Africa Zimbabwe
Japan China
Canada Venezuela
Dominican Republic Puerto Rico
Russia Czech Republic
Italy Netherlands
Mr. Porter concluded, “We look forward to again showcasing the youth aspect of our sport, which has grown so globally in recent years both with girls and boys.”
The schedule will be released at a later date; however, each team will play a minimum of five games. The tournament will be played at the Prague Softball Center, which in the past has hosted international events such as the Men’s Fastpitch World Cup (June 2007) and the Prague Cup (late July/early August 2004). The Czech Softball Association is organizing the event in consultation with the ISF. An official event website will be launched soon.