Softball at the Summer Olympics has returned for 2020. Softball at the Summer Olympics was on the Olympic programme from 1996 to 2008. Softball was removed from the programme for 2012 and 2016, but was added, along with baseball, for the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Softball went into free-fall when the International Olympic Committee excluded Softball in the London 2012 Olympics and after that Olympics the Australian Olympic President Phil Coles acknowledged they could have done more in trying to see Softball retained.
Australia won the Bronze Medal in the Beijing Olympics in 2008 losing to Japan in that awe-inspiring semi-final when Australian television audiences stood still, and then Japan went on to defeat the USA for the Gold medal.
Softball is one of Australia's many sports where both men and women play, it's a family sport. Moreover the Australian Institute of Sport had a Softball Unit based in Brisbane along with their High Performance Unit.
The Australian and AIS teams are essentially one and the same and their high level training camps are times in which the Softballers can further heighten their skills. These camps have been held in both Brisbane and Canberra.
There are employment opportunities in Softball. There aged Australian men's and women’s squads. Softball news has a comprehensive web site.
The Australian and AIS women's team head coach Fabian Barlow interview for the Australian Missionary News. And similarly star player Kylie Cronk interview by the Australian Missionary News by Delma Tronson.
Dr Mark Tronson is a Baptist minister (retired) who served as the Australian cricket team chaplain for 17 years (2000 ret) and established Life After Cricket in 2001. He was recognised by the Olympic Ministry Medal in 2009 presented by Carl Lewis Olympian of the Century. He mentors young writers and has written 24 books, and enjoys writing. He is married to Delma, with four adult children and grand-children. Dr Tronson writes a daily article for Christian Today Australia (since 2008) and in November 2016 established Christian Today New Zealand.
Mark Tronson's archive of articles can be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/mark-tronson.html
Dr Mark Tronson - a 4 min video
Chairman – Well-Being Australia
Baptist Minister 45 years
- 1984 - Australian cricket team chaplain 17 years (Ret)
- 2001 - Life After Cricket (18 years Ret)
- 2009 - Olympic Ministry Medal – presented by Carl Lewis
- 2019 - The Gutenberg - (ARPA Christian Media premier award)
Gutenberg video - 2min 14sec
Married to Delma for 45 years with 4 children and 6 grand children