Source : ABC NEWS
One of Australia’s most successful Olympic team sports faces the prospect of being cut from the Brisbane 2032 Games, with softball administrators concerned money will outweigh legacy when deciding the sports program.
“We don’t have chequebooks that are deep at all, we don’t even have a chequebook,” Softball Australia CEO Sarah Loh told ABC Sport.
The Brisbane 2032 Organising Committee has confirmed to the ABC that the sports selected will have to be operationally viable, with the criteria to include gender balance, global representation and popularity, and must generate revenue.
Baseball-softball, considered a combined event for men and women respectively, will feature in the next Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028.
It’s one of five additional sports added onto the program, increasing to a total of 36 sports overall.
LA 2028 will be the seventh time men’s baseball and sixth time women’s softball has appeared at the Games, with Tokyo the last time both sports featured after being dropped for Paris 2024.
Tanya Harding competed at four consecutive Olympics after softball made its debut in Atlanta in 1996, winning three bronze medals and one silver.
Four-time Olympian, Tanya Harding with her Olympic medals collected during her Australian Softball career. (ABC News: Glen Mullane)
She said it would be devastating if the sport was not involved in Brisbane.
“It would make me really sad because I think that it would be such a downfall for our sport,” she said.
“We struggle to compete with the bigger professional sports, rugby, the AFL, now that have all strong women’s programs, we just don’t have that presence, and we don’t have the same funding.
“So if we’re not in 2032 … I’m not too sure what would happen to the sport of softball post that, particularly for young girls.”
Pitch for international appeal
Softball/baseball last appeared at the Olympics in Tokyo 2020. (Getty Images: Yuichi Masuda)
Last month, Brisbane Organising Committee boss Andrew Liveris told the ABC in a wide-ranging interview that any sports added to the Brisbane Games needed to have a “financial positive” and “it can’t be criteria that’s a flight of fancy.”
He has since told ABC Sport that the committee’s focus is working with bodies, including the IOC, International Paralympic Committee, sports federations and AOC, to finalise the sport program.
“We’ve had strong interest from a range of sports wanting to be involved in our Games and I expect that interest will continue in the months ahead,” he said.
“We look forward to our sport program taking shape and presenting it to the IOC and IPC in due course.”
Loh said she wanted to remind organisers that softball and baseball are not new Olympic sports, as they have to pitch along with dozens of other sports to be included in the program for Brisbane.
“We’re working really, really hard … to demonstrate our power in growing the game and having that ability to generate revenue for Brisbane Olympics,” she said.
“We are international sports. Baseball and softball is massive … internationally, over 137 countries play and there’s billions of viewers.
“So when it comes to ticketing and the ability from the global stage, we’re very confident we’re actually going help deliver a really successful games.”
Softball Australia CEO Sarah Loh. (ABC News: Glen Mullane)
However, Loh said the pockets of the tier two sport do not run deep.
“To have chequebooks to be able to get into Olympics that just can’t happen for us … we don’t have that type of money,” she said.
“All we can do is present our sport of softball and baseball, as a rich traditional history that has every right to be in the Olympics.
“It’s about grassroots giving young girls and boys the opportunity to play a sport that may not be football or cricket or netball or soccer.”
Baseball Australia has been working alongside its softball counterpart to ensure it stays on the program from Los Angeles to Brisbane.
CEO Glenn Williams said Australia can recreate another silver medal moment like in Athens 2004.
Australia won baseball silver at the Athens 2004 Olympics. (Getty Images: Nick Laham)
“In the conversations that I continue to have there’s a genuine surprise when we say we’re not guaranteed of being in Brisbane,” Williams said.
“People assume that baseball-softball will be there and we’re hoping that the decision makers view that as something favourable.
“We have about 150 collegiate athletes in the US at the moment … Travis Bazzana was the number one pick in the MLB draft last year and he’s from northern part of Sydney and is doing great for the Cleveland Guardians.”
Bid for the 2027 Softball World Cup
Softball Australia’s push to be a part of Brisbane 2032 centres around a bid to host the 2027 Softball World Cup in Brisbane – the key qualification event for the LA Olympics.
It would be the first time Australia has hosted the tournament since the inaugural event in 1965 in Melbourne.
Members of the Aussie Spirit, the national softball team, training in Brisbane. (ABC News: Glen Mullane)
Loh said if the bid is unsuccessful, it will weaken Softball Australia’s ability to showcase to the Brisbane Organising Committee that they are a global sport that can generate sponsorship and broadcast revenue.
Additionally, the team would likely have to travel to another country to qualify, losing home advantage and costing Softball Australia hundreds of thousands of dollars.
After securing some funding from the Queensland State Government, Loh has pleaded with both sides of the federal government ahead of this weekend’s election.
“We’re only looking for $750,000,” she said.
“It is going to be the smallest investment that’s going have the biggest impact on a small sport like us, a women’s sport, to be able to grow our participation numbers and to bring the top eight countries around the world to Brisbane.”
A Government spokesperson told the ABC in a statement it has “funded significant events on the green and gold runway and assess(es) each proposal on its merit through the Major Events Legacy Framework.”
Federal Shadow Minister for Sport Anne Rushton provided a statement saying the Coalition wants to ensure Brisbane 2032 is the “best possible event” by “supporting sports which inspire young Australians and showcase our national talent to the world.”
