{"id":32185,"date":"2018-05-10T19:21:23","date_gmt":"2018-05-11T02:21:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/?p=32185"},"modified":"2018-05-10T19:21:23","modified_gmt":"2018-05-11T02:21:23","slug":"wbsc-womens-world-championship-groups-and-schedule-announced-womens-national-team-looks-to-defend-gold-medal-and-qualify-for-tokyo-2020-olympic-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/?p=32185","title":{"rendered":"WBSC Women’s World Championship groups and schedule announced; Women’s National Team looks to defend Gold Medal and qualify for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Click to visit the official USA Softball website.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From Katie Willis at USA Softball<\/em><\/p>\n

WBSC Women\u2019s World Championship groups and schedule announced; Women\u2019s National Team looks to defend Gold Medal and qualify for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games<\/p>\n

OKLAHOMA CITY \u2014 The groups and full competition schedule for the 2018 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Women\u2019s World Championship (WWC) was released earlier yesterday by the WBSC. The USA Softball Women\u2019s National Team (WNT) will travel to Chiba, Japan and compete in the 16th WBSC Women\u2019s World Championship from August 2-12, 2018, where they will look to defend their Gold Medal finish at the 2016 World Championship in Surrey, B.C., Canada.\u00a0 This also marks the first opportunity teams will have to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking forward to competing at the WBSC Women\u2019s World Championship this August,\u201d said USA Softball Executive Director, Craig Cress.\u00a0 \u201cOur Selection Committee has done a tremendous job of putting together a very talented roster that has a great mix of veteran leadership and newcomers to the international scene.\u00a0 We expect high-level competition and can\u2019t wait to watch Team USA compete.\u201d<\/p>\n

Click here to view the complete schedule for the USA Softball WNT at the WBSC Women\u2019s World Championship<https:\/\/www.teamusa.org\/USA-Softball\/Events\/2018\/August\/02\/WBSC-Womens-World-Championship<\/a>><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are very excited to have the opportunity to defend our World Championship [Gold Medal],\u201d said World Championship Head Coach, Ken Eriksen. \u201cThe host committee and the WBSC have worked very hard to ensure quality venues for all countries. Team USA is looking forward to our \u2018Journey to Japan\u2019 starting in June!”<\/p>\n

The 16 participating countries, representing five Olympic continents, have been drawn into two groups. Competing in Pool A, Team USA will take the field against Mexico in its opening match August 13 at 12:30 p.m. JT (August 12 at 10:30 p.m. CT). The Red, White and Blue are also scheduled to 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Women\u2019s Softball World Championship in Chiba will be an exciting and challenging 73-game top-tier global competition,\u201d said WBSC President, Riccardo Fraccari. \u201cThe stakes will be extremely high with the tournament awarding one nation a ticket to be a part of softball\u2019s historic Olympic return at the Tokyo 2020 Games \u2014 this is where softball\u2019s Road to Tokyo 2020 begins.\u201d<\/p>\n

Led by Head Coach Ken Eriksen, the World Championship roster was announced in January following the WNT Selection Trials in Clearwater, Fla. The WNT heads to Japan having won Gold in their last appearance at a WBSC Women\u2019s World Championship, while the program has accumulated 10 total Women\u2019s World Championship titles.<\/p>\n

Click here to see the 2018 USA Softball Women\u2019s National Team roster<https:\/\/www.teamusa.org\/usa-softball\/team-usa\/women<\/a>><\/p>\n

Highlighting the Women\u2019s World Championship roster:
\n– An Olympic Silver Medalist (Monica Abbott)
\n– Thirteen World Championship veterans (Monica Abbott, Ali Aguilar, Valerie Arioto, Kelly Barnhill, Kasey Cooper, Sahvanna Jaquish, Haylie McCleney, Michelle Moultrie, Aubree Munro, Janie Reed, Keilani Ricketts, Delaney Spaulding, Kelsey Stewart)
\n– Four World Championship rookies (Taylor Edwards, Rachel Garcia, Kirsti Merritt, Danielle O\u2019Toole)<\/p>\n

The 30,000-seat Chiba Marine Stadium, home of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) club Chiba Lotte Marines, will host the playoffs and finals, while NASPA Stadium, Akitsu Stadium and ZETT A Ball Park will host the preliminary and consolation rounds.<\/p>\n

Tickets for the 2018 WBSC Women\u2019s World Championship are set to go on sale online May 19. For updates on the USA Softball Women\u2019s National Team and events throughout the 2018 season visit\u00a0www.USASoftball.com<\/a><https:\/\/www.teamusa.org\/usa-softball\/team-usa\/women<\/a>>.<https:\/\/www.teamusa.org\/usa-softball\/team-usa\/women<\/a>><\/p>\n

About USA Softball<\/strong>
\nUSA 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\u2019s 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 USA Softball annually conducts thousands of tournaments throughout the country including over 100 National Championships.\u00a0 The USA Softball umpire program is among the nation\u2019s largest and are widely known as the best trained umpires in the game.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0www.USASoftball.com<\/a><http:\/\/www.usasoftball.com\/<\/a>>.<\/p>\n

About the World Baseball Softball Confederation<\/strong>
\nHeadquartered 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.<\/p>\n

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).<\/p>\n

For more information, visit\u00a0www.wbsc.org<\/a><http:\/\/r20.rs6.net\/tn.jsp?f=001qCkRAShOoG2l2A_34AfFaCSkd5OvaMjYxrIeNs8oW-azVmOlj4rwUJQBlNGyQL9Q_g3LZQJa1Axf_Dty2MBvIMGYfnbqTvG6sRIMgWCPJPoL9XD9plo2bJCzenVvinBasfdTQGGJj943Jz9nFdtoGLdLGxvR8Cop&c=YU_Z8F_bBs0wxx35iEEXfrMUMJUT8tca0HXj2LOwfhTJXOuytmaINg==&ch=AZ1ehx8orVJw2opV8tf9AOERvusteRqfp1eLIBwV4L4RQ8KRN27HbA==<\/a>>, which is available six languages: English, French, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and Traditional Chinese.<\/p>\n

Katie Willis I Communications Manager
\nUSA Softball
\n2801 NE 50th Street
\nOklahoma City, Oklahoma 73111
\n405-425-3425 (O)
\nVisit Us Online: USASoftball.com<http:\/\/www.teamusa.org\/USA-Softball<\/a>><\/p>\n

Play #USASoftball, where Olympic journey\u2019s begin!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Katie Willis at USA Softball WBSC Women\u2019s World Championship groups and schedule announced; Women\u2019s National Team looks to defend Gold Medal and qualify for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games OKLAHOMA CITY \u2014 The groups and full competition schedule for the 2018 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Women\u2019s World Championship (WWC) was released earlier yesterday by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[61,82,26],"tags":[727,830],"class_list":{"0":"post-32185","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-usa-softball","8":"category-wbsc","9":"category-women","10":"tag-uswnt","11":"tag-uswnt2018","12":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32185"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32187,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32185\/revisions\/32187"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}