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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 19, 2014
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General Tire steps up as World Cup of Softball IX title sponsor; Five games to be televised live on ESPN networks
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OKLAHOMA CITY — The Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America/USA Softball announced today that General Tire, has once again stepped up as the title sponsor of the World Cup of Softball IX held in Irvine, Calif. July 7-13. With worldwide television coverage across the ESPN networks, coverage kicks off on July 10 with five international women’s fast pitch games featuring Team USA airing on ESPN or ESPN2. This marks the second-consecutive year that General Tire has served as the title sponsor for the World Cup of Softball, which is an International Softball Federation (ISF) sanctioned event.
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 Click here to see the complete coverage of the General Tire World Cup of Softball IX
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"It’s an honor to continue our sponsorship of the World Cup of Softball in 2014," says Travis Roffler, director of marketing for General Tire. "With a record high eight international teams, competing to be crowned the World Cup champion, we couldn't be more excited to be a part of this series and to engage with this group of enthusiastic fans."
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The ESPN networks are the exclusive domestic home of the General Tire World Cup of Softball and feature over 10 hours of live coverage including the Championship Game on Sunday, July 13 at 12 p.m. ET. All telecasts will be aired in HD and also available for live streaming via WatchESPN.  The games will also be available on the ESPN Pacific Rim International network.
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This marks a historic year for the General Tire World Cup of Softball as a record eight countries, including Canada, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Mexico, Philippines, Puerto Rico, USA and Venezuela, are scheduled to participate. This also marks the first time the event heads west to Irvine, Calif. due to ongoing renovations at OGE Energy Field at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium. Held July 7-13 at Bill Barber Park, Deanna Manning Stadium, games that are not on the ESPN networks will be available via live-stream on USASoftball.com.  Â
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The complete domestic ESPN telecast schedule is below:
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Date                            Game                          Time (Local Pacific Standard Time)
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Thursday, July 10         USA vs Canada            6:00 PM - ESPN
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Friday, July 11              USA vs Japan              6:00 PM - ESPN
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Saturday, July 12          USA vs Puerto Rico      10:00 AM– ESPN2
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                                     USA vs Chinese Taipei 5:00 PM - ESPN2
Sunday, July 13            Championship Game    10:00 AM– ESPN
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Single session tickets, which start at $10 for general admission seating and $30 for stadium seating, are now available for purchase. Visit SoCalASA.org or by email mailto:WorldCupIX@aol.com with any questions. Click here to purchase today!Â
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The 2014 USA Softball Women’s National Team roster will be announced on June 22 following the USA Softball Women’s National Team Selection Camp.Â
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For all of the latest information on all of the USA Softball National Teams, including a schedule of all 2014 events, visit www.USASoftball.com.
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GENERAL TIRE
For 99 years General Tire has offered a complete quality line of ultra-high performance, passenger, light truck, off-road and commercial tires to meet all your needs. General Tire is a proud supporter of Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series, Best in the Desert Racing Series, Major League Fishing, Chili Bowl, Pro-Pulling, Late-Model Dirt Series, Drag Boat Series, World Cup of Softball, American Sprint Car Series, FreestyleMx.com Tour, Zero One Odyssey, and Spec Tire of Trophylite and JeepSpeed. Team GT supports off-road and short course teams including Mikey Childress, CJ Hutchins, Doug Fortin, Garrick Freitas, Harley Letner, Jerry Zaiden/Jason Campbell/Jerry Whelchel/ (Camburg), Jim Riley, Justin Lofton, Macrae Glass, Randy Merritt, Ray Griffith, Steve Alexander, Steve La Roza, Ryan Beat, Carl Renezeder, and Robby Woods.
About ISF
Headquartered in Plant City, Florida (USA), the ISF is a member of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), the world governing body for the sport  which is recognized by the International Olympic Committee and SportAccord (formerly the General Association of International Sports Federations). Softball (women’s fast pitch) made its Olympic debut at the 1996 Games in Atlanta. There are 127 affiliated countries in the ISF and millions of participants in the sport worldwide.
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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 165,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than 2.5 million. For more information on the ASA, visit http://www.asasoftball.com/.
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About USA SoftballÂ
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 the 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 six World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about USA Softball, please visit http://www.usasoftball.com. Â
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Julie Bartel
ASA/USA Softball
Director of Marketing & Communications
2801 NE 50th Street
Oklahoma City, OK 73111
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405-425-3463 - work
405-203-4645 - cell
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