Natasha Watley She grew up in Irvine, played softball at UCLA and won gold for Team USA 20 years ago. She now lives in Los Angeles and was excited to share her hometown and her sport with the current generation of Olympians.
Until last month, that is, when Olympic organizers announced that softball games for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games Would be played In Oklahoma City.
“It was almost like a slap in the face for me,” Watley said. “It’s the easy way out, sending everyone to Oklahoma.”
Watley and Jennie Finch, another of the 2004 gold medalists, joined Major League Baseball here this week as part of the All-Star Game festivities. Finch, who grew up in La Mirada, said she initially considered the decision to move the Olympic softball games outside of Los Angeles “distressing.”
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Watley said the decision would deprive softball players of the full Olympic experience.
“I had that experience,” he said, “just walking into the dining room and seeing Michael Phelps with his actual medal after winning, seeing Kobe Bryant and hang out with him.
“It’s the little complexities of everyday life that are going to be lost. That makes me very sad. That decision was not for the athletes.”
Softball players should be able to participate in the opening or closing ceremonies in Los Angeles, according to LA28 organizers.
They say it would have taken millions to downsize a major league baseball stadium or add seating to a minor league softball or baseball stadium, even if one could be found that would allow for months of renovation, and that the expense could be dangerous at an Olympics where taxpayers could be liable for any financial losses.
In Oklahoma City, softball games will be played in a stadium with a capacity of 13,000. Two-story stadium which regularly fills up for the Women’s College World Series.
“I go back and forth,” Finch said. “But part of me is like, ‘Oklahoma City, where else are we going to get 13,000 fans to come? What other stadium could hold that for softball?’
“We would have to go to a ballpark, and our game is not really showcased best in a ballpark. The dugouts are so far away. Our game is intimate, it’s fast. And a ballpark just takes all that away.”
Finch said she would love to see an Olympic-class softball stadium built at UCLA. In the meantime, however, softball is an exhibition sport, so it could be part of the 2028 Games, but not the 2032 Games.
“I know how Oklahoma can fill a stadium,” she said. “My biggest concern is getting softball back into the Olympics permanently. What will give us a better chance?”
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Two members of the Los Angeles City Council have concerns expressed Watley said she had discussed the issue with former teammates.
“We are in active discussions and trying to see if there is a solution,” he said.
Watley said he would welcome the opportunity to meet with LA28 officials.
“I’m just trying to protect the athletes,” he said. “If there’s something that can still be done and is profitable, I hope we can make a change.”
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
