Baseball, softball tournament details confirmed for first-ever Junior Pan American Games Cali 2021

Baseball, softball tournament details confirmed for first-ever Junior Pan American Games Cali 2021
12/03/2021
Women’s Softball and Men’s Baseball will be played in Barranquilla. Eight teams will compete for the gold medal in both baseball and softball events.

The details of the men's baseball and women’s softball tournaments for the inaugural Junior Pan American Games Cali 2021 have been officially confirmed. Both disciplines will be medal sports played in the sub-site of Barranquilla, with eight participating nations.

"Very pleasing to have this confirmation for softball -- and baseball -- which have one of the biggest footprints across the Americas in terms of fans and young athletes," said WBSC Softball Americas Chairman Tommy Velazquez. "The inclusion of baseball and softball in the inaugural Junior Pan American Games boosts our sport's case and efforts to become a permanent Olympic sport."

“Softball, like baseball, is a sport that has achieved significant development in the region, that is why we are very happy with the agreement reached with the city of Barranquilla, with the Pan American Confederation and with the National Olympic Committees,” said Panam Sports Secretary General, Ivar Sisniega.

Cali 2021 Executive Director, Jose Luis Echeverry, said Barranquilla has so much passion for this sport and baseball, disciplines that are in their blood. “We are very pleased to host softball in Barranquilla,” added Echeverry.

According to Panam Sports, the gold medallist in Cali, both in baseball and softball, will qualify automatically for the Pan American Games Santiago 2023.

Baseball

The baseball competition will be played by U-23 players (athletes born between 1998 – 2002). Colombia (host), Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua and Venezuela are already qualified after the Pan American Championship. The other three teams will advance from a Pan American Qualifier event in Londrina, Brazil, from 26 June to 3 July 2021.

The WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup 2021 will be played in Mexico from 24 September to 3 October, opening just five days after Cali's closing ceremony. Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua and Venezuela will play both the Junior Pan American Games and the World Cup.

Barranquilla (along with Monteria) hosted the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup 2018.

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Softball

The participating players in the softball competition must be in the U-19 age category (athletes born between 2002 – 2005) between 16 and 19 years old. Therefore, it was decided to utilize the U-17 Pan American Championship held in Barranquilla in 2019 as the qualification tournament for the Games. 

The qualified nations in the inaugural Junior Pan Am Games softball tournament are: No. 1 USA, No. 4 Puerto Rico, No. 5 Mexico, No. 14 Brazil, No. 15 Venezuela, No. 19 Peru, No. 27 Argentina and No. 48 Colombia (host).  

The Games will open four days after the Gold Medal Game of the WBSC U-18 Women’s Softball World Cup in Lima, Peru. The tournament was originally scheduled for 2020, but due to the one-year postponement of the tournament, the event will be played by U-19 players as an exception. USA, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Peru and Colombia will participate in both the World Cup and the Pan American Games.

The I Junior Pan American Games Cali 2021 will take place from 9-19 September in Colombia. In total, 3,804 athletes will participate in 28 sports and 39 disciplines during the Games. 


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