Paper Example on Softball's Origin: From Football, Not Baseball

Introduction

How many of you have played football? Have you ever been to a football game? Do you know how it first started? Do you know how it is played?

Many people believe that softball originated from baseball, but its origin came from football.

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Where did it first start?

Many have never played softball but have been to a softball game. They may not know how the game is played, but they enjoy the sport.

Body

Softball Origination

Softball originated from football.

It was invented in 1887 in Chicago after the Harvard- Yale football competitions which Yale won seventeen goals-against eight.

An old Yale alumnus beeping with excitement picked up a pair of old boxing gloves and yanked it to a Harvard player.

A reporter for the Chicago Trade, George Hancock picked up this idea and invented a sport that was first played by the two teams on the same Farragut Boat Club. Yale won forty-one goals against Harvard that scored forty goals.

It was first played as an indoor game, but Hancock later made it an outdoor. Even though it did not take as much space as needed for baseball, it was considered as an outdoor-indoor game that made Hancock a star in the 19th century.

Transition

The game was not originally named softball during its birth.

After the spring competitions, Hancock made efforts to see his sport grow. He made nineteen rules that would ensure that the sport remained an indoor game. The 1889 winter Indoor Baseball League adopted the sport officially.

The game spread to Minneapolis where a Fire Department lieutenant discovered it as suitable for his men during their idle time. Lewis Rober offered a room just next to the firehouse for the sport and fitted it with the necessary facilities.

During this time, the ball size was two inches, and the team was named Kitten League ball by 1900.

In 1925, the Minneapolis Park board changed the name to Diamond Ball.

The transitions kept on and included Pumpkin Ball, Twilight Ball, Recreation Ball, Mushball, Nightfall, and Lightning Ball, among others.

The names came about until 1926 when the Softball name was suggested by Walker Hakenson a YMCA from Danver. The name was however adopted in 1934 after competitions.

The Growth of Softball

The first competitions were held in 1887 between Yale and Harvard teams, hours after the idea was born by George.

Annual competitions continued each winter in Chicago.

The sport was officially adopted as an indoor game in 1989 during the Annual Indoor Baseball League.

By 1925, the game had spread to Minneapolis.

Efforts to nationalize this sport did not bear fruit until 1933 when Leo Fischer and Michael J. Pauley conceived the idea (Fidler et al., 19).

Fischer and Pauley invited the teams to play alongside with the World's Fair in Chicago the same year as a way of uniting the teams.

Fifty-five teams attended the tournament and were classified into three groups of slow-ballers, fast-ballers, and women.

During this time, the ball size had grown to 14 inches.

The Amateur Softball Association was absorbed into the Joint Rules Committee in 1934 during the National Recreation Congress.

There was a state of confusion in the game until the formation of ASA. For instance, the size of the pitcher's box and bases of the ball kept changing over time.

Importance of the Amateur Softball Association

Fischer and Pauley saw the game grow throughout the United States of America. They build networks and lay strong foundations that saw a thriving growth of softball in America.

The two committed men made visits to various states and encouraged teams to join the national tournaments.

To aid the progress of the sport, Fisher sold his Century of Progress Exposition with the help of Harry Wilson, his sports promotion director. He did this to sponsor the upcoming tournament. Moreover, he offered a playing space within the Fair Grounds.

The two gained the support of the American papers that published the tournament daily. The Chicago businessmen also joined hands to see the success of the match by contributing $500 towards it.

The admission to the 1933 tournament was free, and this saw over seventy thousand people watch the first round of the game.

The Chicago teams won the all the three divisions that season. Brigg's Beautyware lost to J.L Friedman Boosters after 41 consecutive wins (Alister et al., 23).

The strong foundations laid by Fischer and Pauley saw the success of softball into its own independent game.

The formation of the ASA played an important role in promoting the sport's activities, thus making it known in the entire U.S.A.

By 1935, there were hundreds of teams and thousands of fans and players interested in softball.

The game's promoters announced the renaming and rebranding of the sport in 2016 (Pyle, 30). However, it is expected that the vision of the sport remains.

The U.S.A will remain a leader in the sport as it helps other interested nations to appreciate and adopt the game in their countries a swell. It is expected that the game will soon go international, thus attracting participating teams from all over the world. In the end, it shall be just like football's World Cup.

Conclusion

The assignment covers research for a speech outline on the origin f Softball.

There is a background tale of the origin of the sport.

Whereas some people think that the game originated from baseball, research shows that it was born right after the Yale-Harvard football match in 1887.

It is associated with baseball mainly because ads it transitioned in later days, and it was adopted as an indoor game under the Baseball League.

The game has been renamed in various ways such as Kitten Ball, Mushin Ball, and Lightning Ball, among others.

The formation of the Amateur Softball Association played a big role in the success of the sport.

Efforts laid by Fisher and Pauley saw a stable foundation for the sport, thus leading t the tremendous success. The original founder for the game is George Hancock while other Chicago businessmen have supported the sport to date.

In the end, the sport has attracted more than a hundred teams and approximately seventy thousand players and fans each winter as a national sport.

Works Cited

Arthur-Banning, Skye. Youth Sports in America: The Most Important Issues in Youth Sports Today. , 2018. Internet resource.

Fidler, Merrie A, and Jean Cione. The Origins and History of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. , 2010. Internet resource.

Allister, Mark C, and Carol Hutchins. Women's College Softball on the Rise: A Season Inside the Game. , 2019. Print.

Pyle, Ernie. Here Is Your War. San Francisco: Pickle Partners Publishing, 2016. Internet Resource.