Members of the US softball team celebrate after defeating Japan in the gold medal game of the World Championships at Beijing's Fengtai Softball Field in 2006.
Softball is making every effort to be reinstated for the 2016 Olympic Games after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted three years ago to remove it from the program following this summer's edition of the Games in Beijing.
The International Softball Federation (ISF) launched its "Back Softball" campaign in June of last year to persuade IOC members to reconsider their decision.
The campaign aims to get the sport played in more countries and improve access for young people worldwide. It also plans to build greater global access for people with disabilities, provide equipment and coaching where it is most needed, and bolster TV coverage to keep the sport firmly on the global radar.
"We're going to take advantage of every opportunity that we come across to make it known that softball is out there working hard to get the support of the IOC members when they gather in October of 2009," said ISF President Don Porter.
"But more importantly, the sport is growing and we are broadening the awareness about our activities and we seek to keep the members informed."
The IOC will decide in October of next year what sports will feature at the 2016 Games. Two traditionally American sports, softball and baseball, will both be lobbying for re-inclusion (baseball has also been voted out), while other major sports like golf and rugby are also making a case for themselves.
At least one thing should work in softball's favor - attendance at the Beijing Games is going to be sky high, giving the sport some more crucial international exposure.
Tickets for all four medal-deciding matches are sold out and the rest are 90 percent gone, ISF officials said.
"Our Olympic competitions in the past have been very well attended, so we're pleased to see that this will again be the case at the Beijing Games," said Porter. "China is a great softball nation and our sport has shown worldwide appeal, so between the Chinese as well as our fans from numerous other countries, our venue is on pace to be filled starting August 12."
At previous Olympic Games, the softball competition had sellout crowds in its Olympic debut at Atlanta, and then four years later in Australia attendance jumped more than 50 percent. This saw softball rank among top ten most popular spectator sports at the Games.