Friday, August 5, 2016

Softball/Baseball accepted as one of 5 new sports to be contested at Tokyo 2020 Olympics



In a bid to sttract the young to the Olympics, the IOC Executive Board made the decision to accept 5 new sports to be contested at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. They are karate, sport climbing, surfing, skateboarding and baseball/softball.

Of these 5 sports, Baseball/Softball has the longest history in Singapore, where there was a local league in the 1960s, supported by the Expat communities in Singapore.

Brief history of Softball in Singapore

As always, I was trawling Sungei Road today and found this 51 year old souvenir programme, containing rather interesting pictures and information about the Singapore Softball Association.

An online check confirmed the following:

Established:1960
Name:SINGAPORE SOFTBALL ASSOCIATION
Name Changed:1998
New Name:SINGAPORE BASEBALL & SOFTBALL ASSOCIATION


51 years ago but still in pristine condition!

A very young Chan Chee Seng as Parl Sec

Can you spot Best Infielder - Colin Schooling, Class III (Mens)? 
Sounds familiar? Yes! He is father of Joseph Schooling!

I dare say with such a long history of softball since the 1960s, Singapore might just be able to put together a strong women's team, to vie for a spot in Tokyo 2020!

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