Brief History of Softball

Softball is a popular variant to the game baseball. The difference is softball is played with a larger 12 inch ball instead of an 11 inch ball. Additionally, softball has a smaller field than a baseball field. The most popular version of softball is called Fastpitch Softball. This version of the game is played between two teams on a larger field. Each team has 9 players on the field. In earlier years, Slowpitch Softball was popular, but this version of the game was written out of the ISF official rules since 2002.

Softball was first invented in 1887 as an indoor game in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The first known softball game was played on Thanksgiving Day in the Farragut Boat Club. Softball was invented by George Hancock. The primary intention of softball was to give baseball players a sport to play during the winter indoors. The first official rules to softball were published in 1889. In 1895, the developing version of softball was used as a training method for firefighters. This version of the game used a 12 inch ball rather than the 16 inch ball used in 1889. It was only in 1926 when the game was given the name Softball. This name was used because the ball used was relatively soft.

By the 1930s, softball was slowly becoming mainstream. It began to spread through Canada and the USA, making its appearance in YMCA centers, schools and communities. In 1936, the Joint Rules Committee submitted the first standardized American softball rules. By 1953, the first Amateur Softball Association was born. Following later in the year, the British Women's Softball League was also established.

It was not until the 1996 Summer Olympics when softball first made its first debut into the olympics. The specific sport was the women's fastpitch softball. This date was marked as a key year in softball olympics. However, in 2005, softball was dropped from the olympics. Fortunately, the sport will be reintroduced in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Softball had a very rich history. The sport had many ups and downs and had many uses throughout the years. The direction of the sport changed drastically, and is still changing to this day. Currently the intention of softball is a much faster paced and more intense version of baseball. Since the field was smaller, there was less time for runners to get to each base and fielders had less time to field the ball. 

Currently, the major softball committees around the world are the ASA, Triple Crown, ISC, AAU, PONY, NSA and ISA.