Players tossed their gloves in the air in celebration as they ran towards a huddle in the middle of the softball field. Australian flags waved in the stands and the team shouted with joy.<\/p>\n
With a throw to first base to run the final Canadian batter out, the Australian men’s softball team \u2014 the Aussie Steelers \u2014 were crowned world champions in 2022.<\/p>\n
It was just the second time the Steelers had been world champions and appeared to be a sign the sport, a popular inclusion in Australian schools for years, was reaching new heights.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Harry Saisell says many of his friends will miss softball games because they have another sporting match they care more about at the same time. (ABC News: Emily Anderson)<\/p>\n
But less than three years after watching his idols take home the trophy, Canberra softballer Harry Saisell is battling to find enough players to fill a team sheet each week.<\/p>\n
“People don’t want to be seen playing softball,” the 16-year-old said.<\/p>\n
“It’s a hard sport, and it’s really fun, but people don’t see that.”<\/p>\n
A once-thriving sport<\/p>\n
Softball is a variation of baseball invented in the late 1800s and uses a larger ball and smaller field.<\/p>\n
The sport is predominantly played by female participants and will be included in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games as a women’s only sport, however, the men’s game has a strong presence around the world.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Archive footage of a softball camp from 1961. (ABC News: archives)<\/p>\n
But in Australia, players and the sport’s peak bodies are concerned softball is no longer able to compete with the popularity of other sports.<\/p>\n
It means remaining junior players like Harry regularly play up for older divisions and fill in for multiple teams each season.<\/p>\n
“I’m worried to see what will happen in the future \u2014 I’ve lost heaps and heaps of friends to other sports,” he said.<\/p>\n
“A lot of people in my teams miss out on most games due to basketball grand final, cricket grand finals, [and] baseball.”<\/p>\n
Since the pandemic, juniors numbers in the ACT have shrunk to the point where the territory’s competitions had to be consolidated into one association with just four or five teams in each division.<\/p>\n
Of the 23,000 softball members across Australia, there are 1,200 based in the ACT, according to Softball Australia.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
There are 23,000 softball players across Australia, according to Softball Australia. (ABC News: Emily Anderson)<\/p>\n
No young blood<\/p>\n
Softball ACT operations manager Shaun Carroll remembers a time when softball was second to only cricket in its popularity.<\/p>\n
“Once upon a time, everyone played softball at school \u2026 it was really the only thing around,” he said.<\/p>\n
“But like everything else, things come and go and there seem to be a lot more things coming for kids to select and go play.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Shaun Carroll says softball used to be second in popularity only to cricket. (ABC News: Mark Moore)<\/p>\n
Five years ago, Mr Carroll remembers a vibrant scene of softballers at the long-running Australia Day Carnival in Canberra.<\/p>\n
It has not run since 2023 due to a lack of young participants.<\/p>\n
“We had hundreds of kids floating around,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We tried to get it back up off the ground this year, but the interest just isn’t there.”<\/p>\n
Mr Carroll knows that with fewer young players coming up the ranks, softball competitions could be on their last legs.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Grassroots and junior levels of softball have been struggling to attract the numbers they once did. (ABC News: Emily Anderson)<\/p>\n
“I’d love to say that softball’s going to be around for 15 or 20 years,” he said.<\/p>\n
“The way it’s heading at the moment, it’s not looking great.<\/p>\n
“But you never know what’s around the corner.”<\/p>\n
Though Mr Carroll admits the Australian Masters Games \u2014 which will be hosted in Canberra in October 2025 \u2014 tell a different story.<\/p>\n
With almost 700 players, softball is the third most popular sport in the bi-annual competition.<\/p>\n
Olympic dreams<\/p>\n
State-representative softballer Laura Pardoe first played as a young child and said she was sad to see opportunities to learn softball in school disappear despite it being an Olympic sport.<\/p>\n
“The opportunities for those players have just become smaller and smaller, especially for the women and girls,” she said.<\/p>\n
“This is a sport that’s back in the Olympics for 2028, and we’re not on that trajectory of opportunities to get to that higher level.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Laura Pardoe is hopeful a big increase in the number of people wanting to play softball is just around the corner. (ABC News: Emily Anderson)<\/p>\n
In the 2025 season, the ACT women’s competition has just four teams, while the men’s grades have seven.<\/p>\n
Although the Australian Sports Commission has given an additional $1.96 million to fund high-performance programs for women’s softball ahead of the Olympics, this money can not be used at the local level.<\/p>\n
Hopes to become ‘the next Matildas’<\/p>\n