Europe
Softball is played in almost every country in Europe, mainly fast pitch. Every two years is held an European fast pitch championship with the best eighteen nationals teams. Italy and Netherlands are the best nations,and both have an almost professional championship where play athletes from USA,Australia and China.
Softball is the most popular participant sport in the United States, as it is estimated that 40 million Americans will play at least one game of softball during a year. It is played by men and women both recreationally and competitively.
Softball is played, at some level, in over a hundred countries around the world. The International Softball Federation has 113 member countries, (excluding dependent territories).
In many US cities, adult softball teams are organized by bars and clubs, hence the popular term "beer-league softball". The teams can be men's, women's or co-ed, and skill levels can range from novice to elite, with league composition reflecting that. These leagues are almost exclusively slow-pitch.
Competitive fastpitch softball for girls is growing increasingly popular. All over the USA, there are thousands of teams that compete year-round at tournaments. During most of these tournaments the biggest goal is not winning the tournament, but attempting to get as many college coaches as possible to observe (a) particular player or players. Competitive teams are now beginning around eight years old, if not younger. Depending on the team they can travel all over the USA or even out of the country such as to Canada, the summer and fall for many weeks and days at a time.
There are many different sanctioning bodies of softball: USSSA, ASA, ISA, NSA, WSL, and SASL just to name a few. One of the biggest is the Amateur Softball Association, also known as ASA. It is known as the National Governing Body of Softball, was established in 1933 and has over 240,000 teams. The USSSA, founded in 1968 as the United States Slo-Pitch Softball Association, but renamed in 1997 to the United States Specialty Sports Association, is the only association that still has a men's major slowpitch program alive.
Read more about this topic: Softball, International Competition
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