Softball Association of Malaysia (Persatuan Sofbol Malaysia)

SAM started with six (6) affiliate members: the State Softball Associations of Penang, Perak, Pahang, Kelantan, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, along with two associate members: The Royal Malaysian Police Force and The Council for Sports for Universities (Majlis Sukan Universiti Malaysia (MASUM).

SAM is the sole governing body of softball in Malaysia and was registered with the Registrar of Societies on 16 March, 1974 under the Societies Act 1966. With the coming into force of the Sports Development Act which mandated all sports bodies to be registered under the Act, SAM was registered under that Act on 10 June 1998 with the Sports Commissioner.

Since its formation, SAM has organized annual national championships, such as the National Open Men and Women Softball Championships, and various international invitational competitions, such as Malaysian Open Softball Championships.

SAM also recognized the need to provide more playing opportunities for young people and provide the national teams a strong base on which to build. In 1976, the National Under-21 Championship was initiated and in 1987, SAM introduced the National Under-15 Boys and Girls Championship as they continued their efforts to improve the standard of play and increase the sport’s popularity. This Under-15 competition has since been changed to the National Open Boys and Girls Under-16 Championship.

SAM has been a part of the international softball scene since 1976 when SAM proposed the formation of the Association of South East Asian Softball Federation (ASEAN Softball) and sponsored its first Championship in Kuala Lumpur. 5 teams participated in the inaugural tournament with Malaysia finishing 3rd behind the Philippines and Singapore with Indonesia and Thailand as the other participants. Further progress was made in 1979 when softball was included for the first time in the 10th South-East Asian (SEA) Games in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Since then, SAM has sent teams to various regional and international competitions, including the 5th Women’s World Championship in Taipei, the Asian Men’s and Women’s Championships, the South East Asian (ASEAN) Men’s and Women’s Championships. The Malaysian teams have won 3rd place on several occasions in the SEA Games and ASEAN Championships.

SAM’s membership comprise of full affiliate members and associate members, with the Sports Division of the Ministry of Education (through the participation of schools softball teams in SAM’s National competitions) playing an important role in SAM.