Editing Softball (section)

=== Contemporary era ===
By the 1940s, fast pitch began to dominate the game. Although slow pitch was present at the [[1933 World's Fair]], the main course of action taken was to lengthen the pitching distance. Slow pitch achieved formal recognition in 1953 when it was added to the program of the [[Amateur Softball Association]], and within a decade had surpassed fast pitch in popularity.<ref name="Sports Encyclopedia"/>

The first British women's softball league was established in 1953.<ref name="Sports Encyclopedia"/>

The [[National Softball Hall of Fame and Museum]] was opened in [[Oklahoma City]], United States, in 1957.

In 1991, women's fast pitch softball was selected to debut at the [[1996 Summer Olympics]].<ref name="ISF History"/> The 1996 Olympics also marked a key era in the introduction of technology in softball. The IOC funded a landmark bio-mechanical study on pitching during the games.

In 2002, sixteen-inch slow pitch was written out of the [[International Softball Federation]] (ISF) official rules, although it is still played extensively in the United States under [[USA Softball|The Amateur Softball Association of America]], or ASA rules.

The [[117th IOC Session|117th meeting]] of the [[International Olympic Committee]], held in [[Singapore]] in July 2005, voted to drop softball and [[baseball]] as [[Olympic sports]] for the [[2012 Summer Olympics]].<ref name="117th session">{{cite web|url=http://www.singapore2005ioc.org.sg/|title=The 117th IOC Session in Singapore – A Summary|publisher=Singapore National Olympic Council|access-date=2008-08-24|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725120417/http://www.singapore2005ioc.org.sg/|archive-date=2008-07-25}}</ref> They were reinstated for the [[2020 Summer Olympics]] held in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Baseball/Softball {{!}} Olympic Sport|url=https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/en/sports/baseball-softball/|access-date=2021-07-21|website=Tokyo 2020|language=en-US|archive-date=2021-07-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210703153021/https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/en/sports/baseball-softball/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The highest [[Sport governing body|governing body]] for the sport is the [[World Baseball Softball Confederation]] (WBSC). Other sanctioning bodies are [[USA Softball]], [[National Collegiate Athletic Association|NCAA]], [[National Federation of State High School Associations|NFHS]], AAU, NSA, PONY, [[Babe Ruth League]], ISC, [[United States Specialty Sports Association|USSSA]] and Triple Crown.