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.
“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.”
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.
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.
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.
Editor’s note: Kudos to the people working behind the scenes for reinstatement. Noting that Canada, Venezuela, Argentina, Dominicana, Guatemala, The Bahamas, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Columbia and Ecuador all played in the last Pan-Am Games held in September 2012 in Medellin, Columbia — but the USA did not — would it be impertinent of me to ask if Team USA will play in the Pan-Ams in 2015 ? Let’s hope.