Baseball5 project: One Year Anniversary celebrated at Azraq Refugee Camp in Jordan

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.

The WBSC head coach Amjed Alatoom invited all the players and their families to honour the moment on New Year's day and to congratulate the participants and their parents for the achievement.

"In these moments, we celebrate a year full of giving and happiness from all of the refugee team," the Baseball5 refugee team members team wrote to WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari. "We recall with great pride at the beginning of this year your continued support, encouragement, and guidance to the team that bodes well."

The celebrations continued on the Baseball5 fields at the Azraq Refugee Camp, with 60 children involved in a series of training games.

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. And with one of the WBSC’s nine Strategic Goals to: Grow our Sport and Make it Relevant in People’s Lives and in their Communities, Baseball5 is being used to provide refugees with access to sport, no matter their background.

The WBSC intends to have the Azraq Baseball5 team participate in the 2026 Youth Olympic Games. During the 2024 season, the WBSC will explore opportunities to have the team participate in training camps and tournaments outside Jordan.

Read also: President Fraccari on Baseball5 in Azraq Refugee Camp