Global Game

In the meantime, softball had been introduced in Australia in 1939 by Gordon Young, the Director of Physical Education in New South Wales and by 1947 an Interstate Women’s Championship was played.

In the mid 1930's H.H. Wilson, who had known softball as he worked for Ford Motors in the US, had introduced the game in New Zealand and by January 1938 the Softball Council was founded in Wellington.

South Africa had started playing women’s softball in 1946 and men's in 1947. The South African Softball Association had been established in 1949.

Before the Commercial Treaty between USA and Japan was terminated in 1939, baseball and softball had experienced Goodwill Tours to Japan. In 1949 the Japan Softball Association (JSA) had separated from the Japan Rubber Baseball Association and had organized a Women’s National Softball Championship.

Nick Barack
ASA fourth President Nick Barack

When ASA fourth President Nick Barack attended the 1950 ASA Commissioner’s Council annual Meeting, over 250,000 softball teams were active in the USA and over 65,000 were registered with ASA. This took players membership to over 970,000.

Barack wrote to ASA Commissioners: "…approval was received so that we may now organize National Federations in various countries which now play softball. From these National Federations will come an International Softball Federation which will be the representative body of nations in the Olympic and Pan American competition. There is not much doubt that this plan will become a reality at an early date…".