U.S. avenges loss to Japan in softball spectacle at The World Games amid uncertainty about the sport’s future

Birmingham, Alabama - Surprisingly clear skies greeted spectators arriving for the next great softball clash between the United States and Japan. A forecasted storm never materialized, but the atmosphere at the Hoover Met was nonetheless electric.

It was the first meeting between the great rivals since their gold medal showdown in Tokyo last summer. The United States looked to overcome defeat on that occassion, while Japan sought to once again establish their supremacy over the ball and bat sport.

It was a mouthwatering clash that drew some of the biggest crowds of The World Games 2022. In the end, it was the United States that emerged victorious in the tightly contested match.

“Softball like that gives you chills,” said veteran player Monica Abbott. She was a member of Team USA during the 2008 and 2020 Summer Olympic Games. Wednesday’s match was all the evidence she needed to convinced the sport deserved a spot on the Olympic sports program.

“You saw the crowd. You saw the games. They’re intense. They’re fun. They are fast paced. I think the [Olympic] Games aren’t the same without softball,” stated Abbott. She painted softball’s exclusion from the Olympic Games as a detriment to women’s sport.

“If you take softball out and replace it with something else, it doesn’t match up the same with the history we already have.” She noted the sport’s global popularity compared to baseball, and the recent gains in viewership domestically at the collegiate level.

“People love it because it’s faster, more energy, and then just more power and speed overall from players,” she argued. “I think it deserves a spot.”

At present, softball has not been guaranteed a spot on the sports program for the 2028 Summer Olympics or The World Games 2025. The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) will be hoping Wednesday’s spectacle was the impetus needed to propel the sport into a more certain future.

While Olympic inclusion is likely the ultimate goal of players and officials, The World Games offer a unique experience of their own. They also provide the sport with some much needed stability under the Olympic Movement.

Abbott spoke highly of her first experience at The World Games, commenting, “I really enjoyed The World Games.”

“A little bit of a more intimate atmosphere than the Olympics,” noted Abbott. “Some more different types of sports than than the Olympic Games as well.”

She added, “it’s been fun to see all those different athletes and I thought Birmingham has put on a phenomenal event, especially for softball.”

Her teammate, Ally Carda, who made the winning catch for the United States, told Around The Rings, “I think this sport has grown so much. We we saw that tonight, and then overseas too.”

“Baseball and Softball are kind of tied together with the Olympics,” she argued. Carda said she wished to see greater cooperation with organizations like the International Olympic Committee and the International World Games Association.

“Hopefully moving forward we can either work closer with them or…continue [competing] whether it’s [The] World Games or the Olympics.”

In terms of what could be done to cement a spot at either of the events, Carda replied, “just continuing to grow the sport, and play everywhere we can.”

She added, “show how incredible this sport is, and that we do have a following and that we can bring it to a lot of different places.”

“Hopefully we can have some more advocates, not only for us, but just the sport,” asserted Carda.

It remains to be seen which stage the next chapter of softball’s great rivalry will be played out on, but it’s the clear the world’s best players desire a spot under or around the five rings.