Playing Softball: Some History
Since its creation in 1887, softball has been called “Kitten Ball,” “Playground Ball,” and “Diamond Ball.” A YMCA official in Denver, Colo. named it “Softball” in 1926.
In the 1930s, women’s teams popped up across the United States. New York City’s Madison Square Garden drew up to 21,000 fans nightly to watch women’s teams from 14 states compete.
With the advent of the Amateur Softball Association in 1933, men’s fastpitch eventually gave way to women’s fastpitch, which has now caught fire nationally and worldwide.
- Back in 1942, beauty pageants were a part of the women’s world championships.
- The first women's fastpitch softball world championships were in 1965 in Melbourne, Australia.
- Women’s fastpitch softball appeared in the Olympics for the first time in 1996. The USA has won gold in the event at every Games since.
From Women’s Fastpitch Softball—The Path to the Gold,
by Mary Littlewood, in Top Recruit Magazine, Vol. 2, and from
www.sportsknowhow.com/softball/history. SS