Inaugural U-15 Women’s Softball World Cup awarded to Japan Softball Association to be staged in Tokyo

The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) awarded today the hosting rights of the inaugural U-15 Women's Softball World Cup to the Japan Softball Association (JSA). The first edition of the new World Cup will be played in Tokyo in October 2023, and will feature the world’s best players from 12 countries.

The appointment of Tokyo as host of the WBSC U-15 Women’s Softball World Cup, a youth-focused event, two years on from the successful softball competition at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, adds to the legacy of the Tokyo Games, which saw Japan claim the gold medal beating USA in the final.

“It’s hard to find a better place for the inaugural U-15 Women’s Softball World Cup than Tokyo, Japan, where the biggest stars of our sport stood out in last year’s Olympic Games,” said WBSC Secretary General, Beng Choo Low. “With the awarding of the inaugural U-15 Women’s Softball World Cup to Japan, we complete the portfolio of WBSC Softball World Cup properties, offering young girls around the world the opportunity to represent their nations from the U-12 Mixed Softball World Cup all the way up to the World Cup and the Olympics.”

“The Baseball and Softball event of Tokyo 2020 achieved great success and our athletes inspired people around the world through their performances, which convinced us of the enormous popularity and power of baseball and softball,” said JSA Vice President and WBSC Executive Board member, Taeko Utsugi.

“The excitement we all felt at that time still lingers in our hearts. With a strong sense of accomplishments of the Games, we would like to leverage this “Positive Legacy” to further promote our sports. Our earnest desire is that those girls who will take part in the inaugural U15 Women Softball World Cup in Tokyo will take part in LA2028 and Brisbane 2032 in their prime, creating further momentum for our Olympic campaign.”

The WBSC U-15 Women’s Softball World Cup will be the first youth softball global championship played in Japan, after three Women’s Softball World Cups were staged in 1970 (Osaka), 1998 (Fujinomiya City) and 2018 (Chiba).

The hosting rights were awarded through the new WBSC World Cup bidding process, with JSA’s candidacy winning the race against Lima, Peru.

“I would like to thank and congratulate the Peruvian Softball Federation for their strong candidacy and their commitment with our sport and our properties,” added Low. “Having two candidates for a new event verifies that the new bidding process and World Cup formats are attractive and appealing for national federations and cities around the world.”

The 12 participating nations will open the tournament split into two groups of six teams. The top three of each group will advance to the Super Round, with the top two of this stage advancing to the World Championship Final.

Further details of the WBSC U-15 Women’s Softball World Cup dates and venues will be announced at a later stage.