FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 30, 2018

Women’s National Team set to train for WBSC Women’s World Championship in Iwakuni, Japan

OKLAHOMA CITY — The USA Softball Women’s National Team (WNT) is set to train in Iwakuni, Japan, home of the Marine Corp Air Station Iwakuni, as the team prepares for the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Women’s World Championship, USA Softball announced today. The team will train at Kizuna Stadium from July 27 – August 1 and is slated to participate in a doubleheader exhibition against Toyota Red Terriers, a professional softball team in the Japan Softball League (JSL).

“We’re grateful to our hosts in Iwakuni for providing this much-needed opportunity for our Women’s National Team to train for the World Championship,” said USA Softball Executive Director, Craig Cress. “The team will have the ability to acclimate to the time change and different climate, while also playing against Toyota Red Terriers, who will provide top-quality competition to put our Women’s National Team in the best-possible position to take on the world in Chiba, Japan.”


Click here for more information<https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Softball/Events/2018/July/27/Womens-National-Team-Training>

The six-day training camp will provide the 2018 USA Softball WNT World Championship roster the opportunity to conduct rigorous workouts and practices prior to heading to Chiba, Japan for the WBSC Women’s World Championship August 2-12. Citizens of Iwakuni, service members and family at the Marine Corp Air Station will be allowed to attend open practices, which are slated for July 28 from 5:45-8 p.m. and July 29 5:30-8 p.m., local time. Members of the USA Softball WNT will also participate in a local school exchange on July 31 before taking on Toyota Red Terriers for the doubleheader matchup starting at 5:30 p.m., local time.

Team USA will look to defend their Gold Medal finish at the 2016 World Championship in Surrey, B.C., Canada. This also marks the first opportunity teams will have to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Team USA opens the WBSC Women’s World Championship against Mexico on August 3 at 12:30 p.m. JT (August 2 at 10:30 p.m. CT). As previously announced, the Red, White and Blue will also play Chinese Taipei, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Puerto Rico and South Africa as part of preliminary round-robin action before heading into the playoff rounds. The top four finishers from each group will advance to the double page playoff round, while nations not advancing will compete in the placement round. The top nation will claim the first of five available softball spots for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, with Japan qualifying automatically as the host country.

Admission for Team USA’s doubleheader against Toyota Red Terriers will be free. For updates on the USA Softball Women’s National Team and events throughout the 2018 season visit www.USASoftball.com<https://www.teamusa.org/usa-softball/team-usa/women>.<https://www.teamusa.org/usa-softball/team-usa/women>

About USA Softball
USA Softball is a 501(c)(3) not-for profit organization headquartered in Oklahoma City, Okla., and is designated as the National Governing Body (NGB) of Softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. One of the nation’s largest sports organizations, USA Softball sanctions competition in every state through a network of 69 local associations and has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 150,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than 2 million. USA Softball is dedicated to providing people of all ages the opportunity to play the game they love at a variety of levels by offering recreational, league, tournament and competitive play for fast pitch, slow pitch and modified pitch. USA Softball annually conducts thousands of tournaments throughout the country including over 100 National Championships. The USA Softball umpire program is among the nation’s largest and are widely known as the best trained umpires in the game.

As the NGB for the sport of softball, USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting the six USA Softball National Teams that compete in events such as the Olympics, Pan American Games, World Championships and other international and domestic events. For more information on USA Softball, including its founding and history as the Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA), please visit www.USASoftball.com<http://www.usasoftball.com/>.

About the World Baseball Softball Confederation
Headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland -- the Olympic Capital -- the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) is the world governing body for baseball and softball. WBSC has 202 National Federation and Associate Members in 143 countries and territories across Asia, Africa, Americas, Europe and Oceania, which represent a united baseball/softball sports movement that encompasses over 65 million athletes and attracts approximately 150 million fans to stadiums worldwide annually.

The WBSC governs all international competitions involving official National Teams. The WBSC oversees the Softball World Cups, Softball World Championships (Men, Women, U-19 Men, and U-19 Women), Premier12, World Baseball Classic, and Baseball World Cups (U-12, U-15, U-18, U-23 and Women's).

For more information, visit www.wbsc.org<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001qCkRAShOoG2l2A_34AfFaCSkd5OvaMjYxrIeNs8oW-azVmOlj4rwUJQBlNGyQL9Q_g3LZQJa1Axf_Dty2MBvIMGYfnbqTvG6sRIMgWCPJPoL9XD9plo2bJCzenVvinBasfdTQGGJj943Jz9nFdtoGLdLGxvR8Cop&c=YU_Z8F_bBs0wxx35iEEXfrMUMJUT8tca0HXj2LOwfhTJXOuytmaINg==&ch=AZ1ehx8orVJw2opV8tf9AOERvusteRqfp1eLIBwV4L4RQ8KRN27HbA==>, which is available six languages: English, French, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and Traditional Chinese.

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Codi Warren I Managing Director of Communications
USA Softball
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