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The Beginning of Softball
In 1887, a group of twenty young men had gathered in the Farragut Boat Club gym in order to hear the Harvard-Yale football game. After Yale’s victory, a man picked up a stray boxing glove and threw it at someone, who hit it with a pole. George Hancock, considered to be the inventor of softball tied the boxing glove so that it resembled a ball, chalked out a diamond on the floor, which gave it small dimensions than a regular baseball field to be able to fit in the gym, and broke off a broom han -
The Rules
The Farragut Club wrote the first rules of the new sport. Every sport needs rules and this began the diffusion of it. -
Indoor and Outdoor Softball
Indoor baseball became very popular in the Chicago area that winter. It was meant to be a way for baseball players to keep in practice during the winter. By 1889, a winter league was formed. When the weather became warmer, softball was taken to outdoor field (all of which were too small to be baseball fields.) The same large and soft balls that were anywhere from 10 to 20 inches in diameter that were used indoors were also used for the outdoor games. -
The First Softball Game
The first women’s team was formed in 1895 in Chicago’s West Division High School in the United States. There was no organized or coached competition, and they were not considered comparable to men. -
The Name
The game was first named "kitten ball" because the ball was so soft. It was then transfered over to "diamond ball" when the game was moved outside. In 1922, however, the name officially became softball and with a more professional name the sport got more attention. -
The first Softball
The first softball made was made in 1932. -
The First Tournement
The first international women's softball tournament was held in Melbourne, Austrailia. The sport then spread around the globe and created softball players from all over the world. -
USA's First Olympics
The United States won Gold in that first Olympic tournament, defeating China, 3-1, in the gold-medal game. The team had gone 8-1 in Atlanta, falling to Australia in pool play in its only loss and scoring 41 runs over those nine games. -
World Cup
In 2001 a World Cup competition was introduced for 16-and-under girls from the United States and around the world. -
Softball Today
Today the International Softball Federation has 113 member countries. This game of softball started out as a silly indoor game and became a popular world sport. 40 million Americans play the sport once a year and it has impacted many people's lives.
