Re-entering the Game
Based on past and current practice, softball should be brought back to the 2020 Olympics. Softball and baseball were recently removed after the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The International Olympic Committee, also known as the IOC, decided that they needed to lessen the number of sports in the Olympics and baseball and softball were among the first to be removed. From the first game in the Olympics in 1966, to the last in 2008, the only teams to ever win medals were the United States, Japan, China, and Australia. A major reason for the removal of softball was that out of all those medals the United States had the majority; three gold medals and one bronze (“Softball”). A simple lack of competition is not a reason to remove …show more content…
Cooperation and team building are very important skills that many people lack these days. An experienced coach, John Kelly who has won several state and national championships with his team describes how important leadership skills are developed through softball. He states that, “Leaders are not born, they are made through a combination of hard work (mastering both physical and mental skills) and recognition of the opportunity leadership may provide for them and their team” (Kelly). These skills that are developed through years of softball will be useful even when they are done playing the sport. The majority of the Olympic sport is focused on one athlete going against others from different countries in order to obtain a medal. Team sports are so important because they bring back those skills that often children do not pick up on. Being a team player is a skill that will even be useful in work forces once their athletic career is over. A medal earned in softball is won by an entire team working together in order to achieve the same goal. When one person struggles, the whole team does and the same goes for when someone does
Based on past and current practice, softball should be brought back to the 2020 Olympics. Softball and baseball were recently removed after the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The International Olympic Committee, also known as the IOC, decided that they needed to lessen the number of sports in the Olympics and baseball and softball were among the first to be removed. From the first game in the Olympics in 1966, to the last in 2008, the only teams to ever win medals were the United States, Japan, China, and Australia. A major reason for the removal of softball was that out of all those medals the United States had the majority; three gold medals and one bronze (“Softball”). A simple lack of competition is not a reason to remove …show more content…
Cooperation and team building are very important skills that many people lack these days. An experienced coach, John Kelly who has won several state and national championships with his team describes how important leadership skills are developed through softball. He states that, “Leaders are not born, they are made through a combination of hard work (mastering both physical and mental skills) and recognition of the opportunity leadership may provide for them and their team” (Kelly). These skills that are developed through years of softball will be useful even when they are done playing the sport. The majority of the Olympic sport is focused on one athlete going against others from different countries in order to obtain a medal. Team sports are so important because they bring back those skills that often children do not pick up on. Being a team player is a skill that will even be useful in work forces once their athletic career is over. A medal earned in softball is won by an entire team working together in order to achieve the same goal. When one person struggles, the whole team does and the same goes for when someone does