Last week, some of our nation’s top female athletes made the tough decision to turn down the opportunity to play for the U.S. National Softball team. Softball will not be included in the 2012 Olympic Games and many of the girls believe that playing in the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) league here in the US, instead of playing internationally for Team USA, would result in greater growth of the sport and would also offer a higher level of competition. With almost every member of the 2008 Team USA roster choosing to play in the NPF, the league is hoping to gain much more exposure than it has in past years. Olympic gold medalist Jessica Mendoza not only now plays in the NPF but is also an ESPN analyst during the NCAA Women’s College World Series. The playoff games had over 800,000 viewers. Mendoza has been attempting to get ESPN coverage for some NPF games this summer.
I think that this is a smart move for these players. Taking into consideration that they will not be competing in the 2012 games, I think it is crucial to focus on building up the game of softball here in the US instead of competing in different countries around the world. The professional league will now have the best players in the United States as well as some of the top players coming directly out of college. Since this league will be the only place to see former Olympians and former college standouts, I think that the fans of Team USA and the widely popular College World Series will now become followers of the NPF. Hopefully the choice to build up the professional league will not only offer wider exposure of the game of softball but also change the view of women’s sports and the level of competition they can reach.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/20/sports/20softball.html?_r=2&scp=4&sq=mendoza&st=cse
-Rachel Goossens
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