USF Athletics

The Road to Tokyo: Team USA Olympic Selection Trials on the Horizon

September 26, 2019

Road to Tokyo Series
USF Senior Writer Tom Zebold will chronicle the USA Softball Women's National Team's journey to the 2020 Tokyo Games with insight from Team USA head coach Ken Eriksen, who also talks about how he continues handling head coaching duties for USF softball.
August Edition
 

By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer

TAMPA, SEPT. 26, 2019 – Gold medal victories highlighted a whirlwind summer of softball for Team USA, which continues to stay busy on the road to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Action ramps back up next month, when head coach Ken Eriksen and the USA Softball Women's National Team Selection Committee will have to make tough decisions on which talented players will get to represent the Red, White and Blue on the world's biggest stage.

2020 USA Softball Women's National Team (WNT) Olympic Selection Trials are set to take place Oct. 2-6 at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City. View the schedule of events HERE.

"I've got a folder with all the analysis in respect of what our current players and our former players, who may not have been on the team the last couple years, have done against Japan, Australia, Canada, etc." Eriksen said. "You have to use context in respect of what's going on, but you also have to use who is playing well right now. There's a bunch of things that have to go on that week that we have to continue to evaluate."

Eriksen's important files contain info on 29 invitees for the Olympic Selection Trials that will consist of position drills and simulated games at the home of USA Softball. Team USA's Olympic roster, comprised of 15 players and three alternates, will be announced after the auditions and a press conference will be held on Oct. 8.

"You've got to have the right 15-18," Eriksen said. "We've proven time and time again that gold medals are won with the right people, not necessarily the best players. It's the best people that do that type of stuff."

Just like the trials, the selection process should be intense because of the magnitude of the situation. 2020 will mark the first time the United States, or any other softball national team, has competed in the Olympics since the 2008 Beijing Games.

"It's what the last 11 years have been all about. Hopefully it comes to fruition where we do get the character part correct," Eriksen said. "The softball part, they're already at that level. The last 29 people are at that level, softball-wise."
 
A Look Back at Team USA's Golden Summer
Team USA started its busy summer with training camp and wrapped up June with the Japan All-Star Series in Tokyo/Sendai.

"We had 35,000 people in the Tokyo Dome three times," Eriksen said. "It was fantastic, it was unbelievable. It was a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of appreciation."

No. 1 vs. No. 2 Japan was the marquee matchup again in July during the USA Softball International Cup in Columbus, Ga. In the championship game, Team USA jumped ahead in the sixth inning of a 2-1 victory and captured its second straight USA Softball International Cup title.

The U.S. Women's National Team closed out July with a series of exhibition games in Louisiana and Texas before starting August with a huge event in Lima, Peru. Team USA got past Canada in the championship game to earn its ninth gold medal in the 11 years the Pan American Games have been held.

"They were put into play for that reason of preparing national programs in every sport and every discipline, whether it's volleyball, track and field, basketball, soccer, for the Olympics," Eriksen said. "It was a real high-level tournament and we were very fortunate to win two games on that final day to do it."

In late August-early September, Team USA was back on the world stage at the Japan Cup in Takasaki City. The final meeting between the USA and Japan prior to the Olympics saw Eriksen's squad earn another gold medal with a 3-2 victory.

"They want to win everything on and off the field. That's tough when you're trying to keep a core group on the same page. Don't worry about October. Don't worry about the Olympic Trials. Worry about the task in front of you," Eriksen said. "I was really, really proud of the 18 women that played this summer. They were determined to go at it as a group, cheer for each other and pick each other up."
 

About USA Softball
USA Softball (USAS) is a 501(c)(3) not-for profit organization headquartered in Oklahoma City, Okla., and is designated as the National Governing Body (NGB) of Softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee. One of the nation's largest sports organizations, USAS sanctions competition through a network of Local Associations, which includes all 50 states and select metro associations.  USAS is dedicated to providing people of all ages the opportunity to play the game they love at a variety of levels by offering recreational, league, tournament and competitive play for fast pitch, slow pitch and modified pitch.  USAS annually conducts thousands of tournaments throughout the country including over 100 National Championships.  The USAS umpire program is among the nation's largest and are widely known as the best trained umpires in the game. 

As the NGB for the sport of softball, USAS is responsible for training, equipping and promoting the six USA Softball National Teams that compete in events such as the Olympics, Pan American Games, World Championships and other international and domestic events. For more information on USAS, including its founding and history as the Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA), please visit, www.USASoftball.com.

About USF Softball
Be sure to follow USF softball on social media (Twitter / Facebook / Instagram) and visit GoUSFBulls.com for the most up-to-date information. The USF softball program has been one of the most successful on campus, making 15 NCAA tournament appearances, including a trip to the Women's College World Series in 2012.