Chinese softball players witnessed Japan dethroning the United States to take the gold medal at the Beijing Games and then the squad was dismissed.

"I have no idea when the team will gather again," Jiang Xiuyun, the Chinese Softball Association (CSA) deputy director told China Daily.

China plays against US in the Olympic softball tournament. [Xinhua]

It is a pity the host team did not play well in its last appearance of the sport at the Olympics, finishing sixth among the eight participating teams, with two wins and five losses.

China won silver at the 1996 Atlanta Games and finished fourth at both the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Games.

Now, under the Olympic gold oriented system in China, softball will face a huge cut in financing.

"Before the Beijing Games, the government did invest a lot in the sport," Jiang said.

"But because softball will not be included at the 2012 London Games our association cannot get as much support as before."

Fortunately, softball will still be among the sports at the 2009 National Games, the most influential sports meet in the country and a huge force to promote local sports development. In the meantime, the 11 provincial teams with over 1,000 professional players can keep their jobs.

"Their local sports administrations will still support the sport in order to achieve good results at the National Games," the deputy director said.

But without an Olympic medal, softball veterans will find it difficult to keep going. At this Olympics the national team recruited many relatively old players who have started families.

Just reward

"We got through many difficulties and sacrificed a lot, but unlike those Olympic medalists, we got no prize money or a decent job after being disbanded," the 25-year-old Chinese captain Lu Wei said.

The squad has struggled with the low popularity of the sport and limited resources for years.

"In China, there are at most a few thousand people who have ever taken up the sport," said the Chinese team's head coach Wang Lihong, who was a former member of the silver medal team in 1996.

"It is quite discouraging that we always play at an almost empty venue," Wang said.

Training with a limited budget also lowered the motivation of the players and reduced the chances of bringing in foreign coaches. The average monthly salary of a national team player is just 1,000 yuan ($130).

"It is quite tough for us to keep doing the sport. Sometimes we will lose motivation under such harsh conditions," the captain said.

Before the Games, the team could not afford to hire a good foreign coach and instead asked Wang to lead the squad. For such a tactical game, Wang's one-year coaching experience was not enough.

'It will come back'

There are many reasons to give up the sport, but more reasons to carry on.

"I am really positive about the comeback of softball at the 2016 Olympics," said the CSA deputy director.

In addition to the "BackSoftball" campaign initiated by the International Softball Federation (ISF), CSA is trying its best to contribute by promoting an understanding of the sport.

"We believe it is a good sport for Chinese people, especially youth." Jiang said. "As the State General Administration of Sport has already paid a lot of attention to mass sports, I believe softball will get more support after its omission from the Olympics."

Jiang, a former tennis official, took over the CSA position four years ago. She has become a huge fan of the sport that combines intelligence, team spirit and a healthy lifestyle.

The CSA focuses on developing youth participation in the sport, with cooperation from Chinese universities, such as Nanjing University of Technology and East China University of Political Science and Law.

"Those universities will recruit students with outstanding skills in softball, like they do in other sports," Jiang said.

The association is also looking forward to more international exchanges with softball powerhouses like the United States and it wishes to learn about their marketing skills.

Increasing communication across the Taiwan Straits will see the teams play "home-and-away" tournaments in the near future.

"We are going to do more to promote the sport in China, though the market now is very bad. First of all, we must improve our profile at international events and increase participation," she said.

The Beijing Games has been a good platform for the sport, which has seen sellout crowds exceeding 180,000 in total, more than at the 1996 and 2004 Games, as well as media coverage in more than 100 countries and regions.

"China is working hard to develop the sport and remain competitive since it won the silver in 1996. We will stage more international events and find more sponsors for the national federations," Don Porter, the ISF president told China Daily.

ISF will send more equipments and coaches to more Chinese schools than it has done in the last four years.

"We should make sure China continues to stay active in the sport," he said.

More events will be held at Fengtai Softball Field after the Games and it will probably become an important Asian training center.

"It is a legacy for the sport. China is going to become the leader in our region," said Beng Choo Low, secretary-general of the Softball Confederation Asia.

(China Daily September 5, 2008)