Baseball5: Azraq Refugee Camp assistant coach Reem Hadroos receives WBSC certification

Reem Hadroos became the first Azraq Refugee Camp resident licensed by the WBSC as a Baseball5 coach and game official.

"I thank the WBSC very much for supporting, caring for, and motivating the refugee team," Hadroos commented. "I will do my best to contribute to qualifying the team to participate in the Youth Olympic Games - Dakar 2026."

Hadroos, 18, learned about the Baseball5 programme in the Azraq Refugee Camp when head coach Amjed Alatoom visited her school.

"He met with the children to make them aware of the program, its goals and future aspirations."

"I thought Baseball5 was an attractive, fun and motivating sport for the youth of today. It aims to build self-confidence, interest in talent and invest in free time, in addition to being a source of learning. So I decided to participate in the programme."

She added: "Baseball5 represents a way of life for me. Rather, it represents hope and ambitions for a prosperous future."

WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari inaugurated a Baseball5 at the Humanitarian Sports Centre at the Azraq Refugee Camp in February 2023.

With her aspirations of participating in the Youth Olympic Games as a Baseball5 player curtailed due to age restriction (athletes must be 15, 16, 17 or 18 years old in the year of the Youth Olympics), Hadroos decided to become a coach instead.

"I decided to become an assistant coach because I believe in the importance of Baseball5 in developing the fitness and skills of the participants, improving their performance, and building their abilities."

"I was among those who received WBSC President Fraccari during his first and second visits to Azraq camp. Our team did not lose any matches during the local competitions. I have the memory of the hard work with my head coach and I won't forget participating in the two WBSC clinics which featured international coaches. A beautiful memory is also celebrating the team's first anniversary but the most important memory is succeeding in the coach and game official course."

The WBSC Baseball5 team at the Azraq Refugee Camp in Jordan celebrated the first anniversary of the Azraq Baseball5 Refugee project on Monday, 1 January 2024.

Baseball5 has had a profound affect on Hadroos having practiced athletics, football and taekwondo in the past.

"One of the things that changed in my life is self-confidence, belief in work, taking responsibility, and self-development.

"Baseball5 also developed my training and administrative skills and behaviour related to the team that I love so much. I benefited from the programme's knowledge, values, and skills that I had not learned elsewhere or through other sports. The team means to me a golden opportunity to learn and achieve a better future."

The Azraq Refugee Camp is home to over 39,000 people, of which 60% are children, forcibly displaced from their homes by the war in neighbouring Syria. With one of the WBSC’s nine Strategic Goals to Grow our Sport and Make it Relevant in People’s Lives and Communities, Baseball5 is being used to provide refugees with access to sports, regardless of their background.