Ottawa, Ont. – Softball Canada is very proud to announce that two working umpires and three technical officials have been assigned to the Women’s Softball competition of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). Softball Canada Level V umpires Frankie Billingsley (Edmonton, Alta.) and Geneviève Gaudreau (St-Hubert, Que.) are two of the thirteen umpires who will be calling the games on the field during competition, while Softball Canada past president Kevin Quinn (Charlottetown, P.E.I.) has been named Technical Delegate, Roberto Perez-Leon (Delta, B.C.) will be a Technical Commission (TC) Director and Bob Stanton (Fredericton, N.B.) was appointed as the Umpire Director.
“We are very grateful to the WBSC for placing their trust in these strong individuals for the 2020 Olympic Games, the highest level of competition in our great sport” stated Scott Neiles, President of Softball Canada. “These appointments show the strength of our umpiring program, our success in developing top international umpires, and our organization’s ability to produce quality people. Kevin, Roberto and Bob are well respected in the international softball community and we fully support their involvement. We are extremely confident in the abilities of all of these officials and that they will represent our sport with great pride.”
The WBSC notified officials of their selection on Monday.
Billingsley and Gaudreau have accumulated plenty of international experience that has led to their assignments. Billingsley umpired at the last two WBSC Women’s Softball World Cups (2016 and 2018) as well as the 2019 Pan American Games and WBSC Americas Softball Qualifier, while Gaudreau is a current member of Softball Canada’s Officiating Development Committee (ODC) and worked the 2014 and 2016 Women’s World Cups, the 2015 Pan American Games and the 2019 WBSC Americas Softball Qualifier. Both Billingsley and Gaudreau will umpire at the upcoming U18 Men’s Softball World Cup in New Zealand next month.
“We are so proud of Gen and Frankie. The Olympic Games are the pinnacle of sport and they have both earned this appointment through their hard work and commitment to excellence over many years” added Jeff Whipple, Softball Canada’s National Director of Umpires. “With Bob’s leadership, Frankie and Gen’s appointments to Tokyo 2020 provides a beacon to follow for young umpires across the country and two amazing role models for young women in our program. All three of them are world class individuals.”
The Games of the XXXII Olympiad Tokyo 2020 will take place from July 24 to August 9 in Japan, with the Women’s Softball competition scheduled to be played from July 22-28. The first two days of competition will be played at Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium and the final four days will move to the Yokohama Baseball Stadium. Both diamonds will be converted for softball. This will mark softball’s return to the program after being left off following the Beijing 2008 Games.
“We are very grateful to the WBSC for placing their trust in these strong individuals for the 2020 Olympic Games, the highest level of competition in our great sport” stated Scott Neiles, President of Softball Canada. “These appointments show the strength of our umpiring program, our success in developing top international umpires, and our organization’s ability to produce quality people. Kevin, Roberto and Bob are well respected in the international softball community and we fully support their involvement. We are extremely confident in the abilities of all of these officials and that they will represent our sport with great pride.”
The WBSC notified officials of their selection on Monday.
Billingsley and Gaudreau have accumulated plenty of international experience that has led to their assignments. Billingsley umpired at the last two WBSC Women’s Softball World Cups (2016 and 2018) as well as the 2019 Pan American Games and WBSC Americas Softball Qualifier, while Gaudreau is a current member of Softball Canada’s Officiating Development Committee (ODC) and worked the 2014 and 2016 Women’s World Cups, the 2015 Pan American Games and the 2019 WBSC Americas Softball Qualifier. Both Billingsley and Gaudreau will umpire at the upcoming U18 Men’s Softball World Cup in New Zealand next month.
“We are so proud of Gen and Frankie. The Olympic Games are the pinnacle of sport and they have both earned this appointment through their hard work and commitment to excellence over many years” added Jeff Whipple, Softball Canada’s National Director of Umpires. “With Bob’s leadership, Frankie and Gen’s appointments to Tokyo 2020 provides a beacon to follow for young umpires across the country and two amazing role models for young women in our program. All three of them are world class individuals.”
The Games of the XXXII Olympiad Tokyo 2020 will take place from July 24 to August 9 in Japan, with the Women’s Softball competition scheduled to be played from July 22-28. The first two days of competition will be played at Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium and the final four days will move to the Yokohama Baseball Stadium. Both diamonds will be converted for softball. This will mark softball’s return to the program after being left off following the Beijing 2008 Games.
