FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 20, 2018

USA Softball names 2018 Japan Cup roster and coaching staff

OKLAHOMA CITY — USA Softball has announced a 20-player roster for the Women’s National Team (WNT) that will represent the United States at the 2018 Japan Cup. Held in Takasaki City, Japan from November 2-4, the team is comprised of athletes from both the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) World Championship and Japan All-Star Series rosters.

Click here to see the Japan Cup roster<https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Softball/Team-USA/Women>

The U.S. will return to Japan for the first time since claiming the WBSC Women’s World Championship and becoming the first United States team to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Thirteen members of the World Championship team and seven athletes from the Japan All-Star Series roster will suit up for the Red, White and Blue.

Joining Team USA at the Japan Cup are No. 2 Japan, No. 4 Australia and No. 5 Chinese Taipei. Teams will compete in round-robin action before being placed into seeded Championship rounds.

Click here for more information on the Japan Cup<https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Softball/Events/2018/November/02/Japan-Cup>

Leading Team USA at the Japan Cup is Head Coach Ken Eriksen (Tampa, Fla./Head Coach South Florida), while Laura Berg (Corvallis, Ore./Head Coach Oregon State), John Rittman (Valencia, Calif./Head Coach Clemson) and Heather Tarr (Redmond, Wash./Head Coach Washington) will serve as Assistant Coaches.

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/>.

[cid:BB3515A5-0D02-46AB-BEE9-6113A1A5FB9B]
Codi Warren I Managing Director of Communications
USA Softball
2801 NE 50th Street
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73111
405-425-3431 (O)
Visit Us Online: USASoftball.com<http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Softball>

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