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The National Wheelchair Softball Association (NWSA) is dedicated
to helping teams and individuals raise funds to support their
continued participation in wheelchair softball. The
association is aggressively seeking corporate donations as well
as developing strategic alliances which will ultimately help the
sport grow. The wheelchair softball community has more than
doubled in size over the last 10 years both in number of players
and teams. Nationally focused tournaments other than the
National Wheelchair Softball Tournament (NWST) emerged with the
introduction wheelchair softball at the National Veterans
Wheelchair Games (NVWG) in 1996 and the Major League Wheelchair
Softball Tournament (MLWST) in 2000.
Major League Baseball (MLB) club-sponsored wheelchair
softball teams more than tripled in the last ten years providing
an opportunity for wheelchair athletes to compete under that
affiliation. In 2005, MLB invited players from affiliated
teams to participate in an exhibition during the MLB All-Star
Game Fan Fest in Detroit.
Wheelchair softball is also gaining international interest
and was recently introduced in Belgium at the European Softball
Championship. Players from the United Kingdom and Puerto Rico
have played the game for almost ten years and in 2000, Australia
built the most-southern official wheelchair softball field on
earth.
2006 promises to be one of the biggest and best years of our
history as we commemorate our 30th anniversary, pay tribute to
those who have passed before us and work to foster a national
wheelchair softball program for children with disabilities.
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