Men’s Fastpitch will return to Pan American Games in 2015
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OKLAHOMA CITY — In a meeting last week in Jamaica, the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO) approved the reinstatement of Men’s Fastpitch to the Pan American Games to be played in Toronto, Canada in July 2015, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America and USA Softball announced today. With this reinstatement, Men’s Fastpitch will return to the Pan American Games for the first time since 2003 when the games were held in San Domingo, Dominican Republic.
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“This announcement is a victory for the entire softball community,†said ASA/USA Softball Executive Director Ron Radigonda. “Men’s Fastpitch is a tremendous game and much credit goes to the Toronto Organizing Committee as well as Softball Canada as they have worked diligently to have Men’s Fastpitch reinstated to the Pan American Games since they were awarded the right to host the event.â€
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The USA Men’s Fastpitch National Team has been quite consistent in their seven trips to the Pan American Games dating back to their first appearance in 1979. In all seven appearances, Team USA found themselves on the losing side of a championships matchup with the Canadian National Team.
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Despite never capturing Gold, the USA Men have compiled an overall record of 61-16 for a winning percentage of .792, with 15 of the 16 losses coming to Canada.
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The USA Men’s National Team is slated to compete in next month’s International Softball Federation (ISF) World Championship in Auckland, New Zealand. They will open pool play against defending champion Australia on March 1. Follow all of the National Team’s games in the ISF World Championship at www.USAsoftball.com.
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About ASA The Amateur Softball Association, founded in 1933, is the National Governing Body of softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. The ASA has become one of the nation’s largest sports organizations and now sanctions competition in every state through a network of 76 local associations. The ASA has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 210,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than three million. For more information on the ASA, visit http://www.asasoftball.com/.  About USA Softball USA Softball is the brand created, operated and owned by the ASA that links the USA Men’s, Women’s, Junior Boys’ and Junior Girls’ National Team programs together. USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting these four National Teams to compete in international and domestic competitions. The USA Softball Women’s National Team is one of only two women’s sports involved in the Olympic movement to capture three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1996. The U.S. women have also won nine World Championship titles including the last seven consecutive as well as claimed five World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about USA Softball, please visit http://www.usasoftball.com/.
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Steven Embree | ASA/USA Softball
Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications 2801 NE 50th | Oklahoma City, OK 73111 Work: 405-425-3422 | Cell: 405-207-1004 E-mail: sembree@softball.org | Web: www.usasoftball.com
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