PLANT CITY, FLORIDA (USA) — The countdown to the International Softball Federation’s XII Women’s World Championship has hit 100 days. In just over three months Caracas, Venezuela, will host national teams from 16 different countries, competing for ten days (June 23-July 2).

The number of days until the first pitch ticking down to the century mark today is marked by the announcement of the men and women that have been chosen to umpire in the marquee ISF event. The group includes on-field officials from 15 different countries and will be supervised by ISF Director of Umpires Bob Stanton. They are:

Javier Eduardo PENARROYA, Argentina
Roberto SANCHEZ, Dominican Republic
Darren SIBRAA, Australia
Andrea MARCON, Italy
Scott RINDFLEISH, Australia
Mitsutake ARIYAMA, Japan
Bonnie GOSTOLA, Canada
Peter VONK, Netherlands
Grant HOOD, Canada
Nicky OGIER, New Zealand
Maria MEJIA MORA, Colombia
Thabo DIKGALE, South Africa
Marlene SABOGAL VIGOYA, Colombia
Christina DRUMM, USA
Tomislav OZIMEC, Croatia
Jeffrey M. SLOAN, USA
Raul GARRIDO, Cuba
Carlos Eduardo FALCON C., Venezuela
Pavel KASPERCIK, Czech Republic
Pedro Rafael JIMENEZ H., Venezuela

Mr. Stanton said that actually the hope is to add two more umpires to the above crew in the next week.

The 16 teams that will compete are: Argentina, Australia, Botswana, Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Cuba, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Great Britain, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, USA, and Venezuela.

The game schedule is being finalized and will be released shortly.

This year’s event marks the 45th anniversary of the first-ever softball world championship (see commemorative logo below). Five women’s teams competed in Melbourne, Australia, in 1965, and one year later the first men’s world championship was held (eleven countries competed in Mexico City). Eventually world championships were also started in the junior women’s and junior men’s categories (age 19-and-under).

The ISF is the world governing body of the sport as recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and SportAccord (formerly the General Association of International Sports Federations). Softball (women’s fast pitch) made its Olympic debut at the 1996 Games in Atlanta. There are 128 affiliated countries in the ISF and millions of participants in the sport worldwide.

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