In a decision finalized Monday, baseball and softball are coming back to the Olympics — but not right away.
In a vote conducted by the International Olympic Committee, six sports have been added to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles: baseball, softball, lacrosse, squash, cricket, and flag football.
“There’s nothing bigger than playing for your country and your aunt and uncle and your neighbors and your whole country in general, and there's an extra pride in that," Templeton High School head softball coach Keith Swank said. "So it can be a goal. I want to play in college, I can go play in the Olympics and be those girls out there because they are the best of the best."
In smaller communities, like Templeton, there are now fewer opportunities to make college roster sports due to seniors getting an extra COVID-19 year. It has led to less participation at the younger level.
“We have to expose that sport as much as we can if we want them to start when they're young and build them all the way up and have more kids participating," Swank added. "So to have it on the Olympics again, where it can be exposed on national TV, and you have millions and millions of people watching it, I think it's just so great for the sport.“
The International Olympic Committee cited the absence of the best players as the reason baseball was taken out of the Olympics in 2012 and again in 2024. Softball had been taken out due to a lack of popularity outside of the North American region despite gold medals by China, Japan, and Australia across the sport's four-Olympic-games run.
“It's something to strive for," Templeton High School head baseball coach JR Reynolds said. "It's something for little kids to say, hey, I want to grow up in and wear that USA jersey or, Mexico Jersey, Canada Jersey, whatever it is, and play for my country. There's just something special about playing at that level, not being paid to do it, but doing it just for the love of the game and pride of country.”
More often than not, softball players who reach the collegiate level only have college to strive for as the highest level of play. Now with softball back in the Olympics, it's changed the game.
"My cousin went to college for softball and then, you know, kind of can't really do anything after that," Templeton baseball player Monroe Hamers said.
With Los Angeles being roughly 200 miles south of Templeton, it puts the world stage in a much closer location for the 2028 Olympics.
“I honestly never really thought I would be able to watch the Olympics and it's just pretty cool that I could have the chance to go watch the national team play for baseball and softball," Hamers added.
Before the 2028 Olympic Games take place, Paris is set to host the 2024 Olympics next summer.
