ISL aims to improve softball showing

Eva C. Komandjaja, Jakarta

The Indonesian Softball League will open its inaugural season on Friday, with the sport's governing body hoping the league will help the national team improve its showing at international tournaments.

Six men's amateur teams, all based in Java, will take part in the inaugural season, with the opening games to be held at the Bung Karno Baseball Stadium in Jakarta.

The participating teams are Prambors and Citra Muda from Jakarta, Gorgeous, NISP, Bumi Asri from Bandung, and Sriti from Surabaya.

The league will use a round-robin format with the games to be played over three series.

The opening series will be held in Jakarta from May 28 to May 30, while the second series will take place in Surabaya from July 9 to July 11.

Bandung will host the closing series from Oct. 8 to Oct. 10. The top four teams will then head back to Jakarta for the final round on Dec. 4 and Dec. 5.

The secretary-general of the Indonesian Baseball and Softball Association (Perbasasi), Suryo Adi Prasetyo, said on Tuesday it was hoped the league would help create renewed interest in the sport.

"We want to promote the sport so that it will become more popular in Indonesia and more youngsters will be interested in playing softball.

"The softball league is also part of our efforts to help the athletes better compete in international competitions," Suryo said.

The Indonesian men's team won a gold medal at the 1997 SEA Games in Jakarta, but that was the last medal for the national team in international competition.

The league also aims to elevate the clubs from amateur to professional status.

Perbasasi executive director Gugun Yudinar said the league would only feature six clubs that were considered to be the best in the country.

Financial constraints were also taken into consideration in setting up the six-club league.

Gugun said that Perbasasi expected more clubs to take part in the league's second season.