Most little girls grow up playing with Barbie Dolls and dresses. Not me. When I was a kid, I grew up with a bat, softball and a pair of cleats. Most of my friends were dropped off at ballet or girl scouts, while I practically lived at softball complexes. Like most kids growing up, I had a dream: to one day play for the USA Olympic Softball Team.
Although I know now that this dream is almost unattainable now, I’ve made it relatively far in the softball world, playing for the Emerson College Softball team. That’s as far as I will go in my softball career, not because I’m not good enough to be on the Olympic team, but because the Olympic team doesn’t exist anymore. Softball and baseball have been dropped from the summer Olympics.
Softball first became an Olympic medal sport in 1996. Since then, the United States has won a gold medal every year, except for the last games in 2008. Softball and baseball will be the first two sports dropped from the Olympics in 69 years.
The US domination in the sport is a major factor for removing it. Other reasons include global interest in the sport. These reasons should not be enough to take softball out of the Olympics and crush the dreams of hundreds of thousands of girls over the world.
Looking back at past Olympic games, the US has indeed dominated. Although the team has managed to win a medal in every tournament, they have been defeated and have had close games. China, Australia and Japan are the United States toughest competition.
The US won their first gold medal in 1996. Although they won gold, they did lose to Australia (2-1) in round robin play.
At the 2000 Olympics the U.S. lost to Japan (2-1) in 11 inning in round-robin play. The U.S. proceeded to lose two more games (2-0) to China and (2-1) to Australia after. It was the first time in the history of USA Softball that a Women’s National Team lost three games in a row. The U.S. rebounded to win five consecutive games including wins in the playoffs over China (3-0) in 10 innings, Australia (1-0) and Japan (2-1) in eight innings in the gold medal game to capture its second consecutive gold medal.
The team proceeded to win the gold again in 2004 and was appointed the “Real Dream Team.”2008 brought the end to US domination at the Beijing Olympics. Japan beat the US (3-1) in the final game to win their first gold medal. The US took silver for the first time in Olympic history.
Yes the US is a dominant force in softball, but they can be beaten. Throughout the history of softball in the Olympics, the US has lost and played a lot of close games. There is no reason to remove a sport because of a country’s strong winning records.
US Olympian Crystl Bustos agrees that softball should not be taken out of the Olympics. Bustos started a softball league called Bustos Ultimates. Her program is “dedicated to instilling the
excitement for the game, the value of good sportsmanship, and the
determination to make each player strive to improve and be better players.” Bustos told the Palm Beach Post that removing softball from the Olympics crushes the dreams of the girls she started her program for.
I agree with her. Boys have tons of male professional athletes to look up to: David Ortiz, Kobe Bryant, Tom Brady and many others. Growing up I had Olympians Jenny Finch and Crystl Bustos as idols. I had the pleasure of meeting Finch at a softball tournament a few months ago. I was extremely excited. It’s not everyday you get to meet one of your idols and and Olympic medalist. Finch sets an example
for girls around the world. I’m worried that girl’s growing up now will never get the chance to meet their female athlete idols or will never get the chance to play in the Olympics. Their dreams do not deserve to be taken away.The fight is not over. Although softball has been cut for the next Olympics, there’s still hope for the future.
