UMPIRES SELECTED FOR ATHENS OLYMPICS

The twelve umpires who will work the softball competition at the 2004 Summer
Olympics were named today. International Softball Federation (ISF)
President Don Porter announced that the ISF Executive Council affirmed the
appointment of the group nominated by ISF Umpire-In-Chief Merle Butler. The
appointments include six female and six male umpires. There will also be
three alternate umpires in the event that any from the initial selection
become unavailable.

Mr. Butler, who at various ISF events including World Championships, World
Cups, regional games, and other major international competitions, has
observed all the umpires nominated, said, "I feel we have provided to the
ISF the very best umpires available, who have extensive experience at the
international level."

Those chosen are as follows:

Haruhi Goto, Japan (female)
Kelly Hunter, Canada (female)
Debbi Lauderback, United States (female)
Neville Lawrence, Australia (male)
Marty Makar, United States (female)
Vincent Maoeng, South Africa (male)
Leilani Okuda, United States (female)
Leanna Pacini, Canada (female)
Wayne Saunders, New Zealand (male)
Santos Vasquez, Puerto Rico (male)
Pavel Vychodsky, Czech Republic (male)
Yang Yi, China (male)

Alternates
Augustine Brea, Dominican Republic (male)
Weng-Meng LIN, Chinese Taipei (male)
Nicola Ogier, New Zealand (female)

There will be a total of 32 games played in the softball competition, which
runs from August 14-23, 2004. The full schedule is available on the 2004
Olympic Softball page of the ISF website
Tickets remain available for the softball games. Details for purchasing
tickets are also available via that same webpage.

http://www.internationalsoftball.com

Thanks for the information Mike.... Glad to see the
US placed three on the squard. Would have like
to see your name on that list

glen

Ain't gonna happen. My certification is in SP.

Slowpitch would not be a bad thing to start in the
Olympics. Would probably generate some interest from
all around. When I was in the military, it was big all
over other countries. I did umpire slow pitch back then.
Have completely given it up now Oh, I do some benefit
fund raisers, but nothing that counts towards any State or
National tournaments.

glen

I know they've tinkered with the idea. There are at least 24 countries that are presently involved in SP, but I don't think it is a stretch to think that could double if there was any effort put into it.

Over the weekend, I have traded emails with one of the umpires listed.

That person has told me that they have received no official notification yet from Merle or anyone else....

Interesting....

Thanks for the congrats! All of this has not quite sunk in yet but this is such an honor to represent the USA. This is the greatest competition in the world and the Olympic spirit and camaraderie between the participants (athletes and sports officials) is like no other. And humbly, I feel very blessed to be a part of it!

As for special plans, Merle said that there will be information to follow about tournaments and games that I will work in the months beforehand. He had no specific agendas or schedules of yet. Maybe the Canada Cup in June.
*********************

Andy,

This is part of a response I received from one of those selected. Unless misstated, it seems apparent that Merle has talked to someone about it.