Laing Harrow Named Australia's Head Coach For 2020 Olympics

Laing Harrow will serve as Team Australia's head coach for the 2020 Olympics, Softball Australia has confirmed.

Harrow, who signed a multi-year deal with Softball Australia, has been the head coach of the Aussie squad since 2018. In addition to coaching Australia's national softball team, Harrow also served as the head coach of the NPF's Aussie Peppers in 2019.

Australia qualified for the 2020 Olympics back in September at the WBSC Softball Asia/Oceania Qualifier in Shanghai, China, where the team scored 37 runs and gave up just four. The Aussies locked up the final spot for the Tokyo Games after going undefeated in the tournament and joined Japan, the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Italy in the Olympic program.

"To qualify back into the Olympics is a great achievement, but I go back the other way and seeing where we've come from as a team has been just as impressive," Harrow said in a statement. "To look at the improvements the girls have made individually and as a team in a year is very pleasing and they're enjoying being around each other and enjoying just playing softball. And from that, we're playing at a really high level."

The Australian national team is set to host the Asia Pacific Cup in January before partaking in its Summer Slam in February.

In its history in softball at the Olympics, Australia has earned a medal in each of the sport's four appearances at the Summer Games. The Aussies collected the silver medal in 2004 and earned the bronze in 1996, 2000 and 2008.

Next summer, softball will make its first appearance at the Olympics since 2008, with the gold-medal game scheduled for July 28.

Team USA Wins 2022 Pan American Championship

Team USA captured the 2022 Pan American Championship on Saturday with a 12-1 run-rule win over Canada.