LAUSANNE, Switzerland; The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) confirmed today the continental quota for the inaugural WBSC Baseball5 World Cup and WBSC Youth Baseball5 World Cup, which will be held in Mexico in December.
A total of
12 mixed-gender teams will feature at both events with the breakdown
by continent as follows:
- Africa: 2 teams
- Americas: 3 teams
- Asia: 3 teams
- Europe: 2 teams
- Oceania: 1 team
- Host nation: 1 team
The number
of players per team is eight, equally divided between
men and women with five
players -- with a minimum of two players per gender -- on the field at one time. Eligibility for the WBSC Youth Baseball5 World Cup 2020 is reserved for athletes born
between 01 January 2002 and 31
December 2005.
WBSC
President Riccardo Fraccari said: “The inaugural Baseball5 World Cup will take
place three years after the launch of the discipline. This is unprecedented and
ground-breaking. There is no doubt over the long-term that baseball and softball
will greatly benefit from the growing popularity and practice of Baseball5. All
our Members now have a path to compete at the world level and inspire and
motivate their athletes to strive to be world champions and Olympians. I look
forward to seeing boys and girls, and men and women from all five Olympic
continents competing together on a level playing field.”
A deadline
of 15 February has been set for the WBSC Continental Associations to confirm
their respective qualification process for the Baseball5 World Cups 2020. Asia has already announced that the Asian Cup Baseball5 in April will be part of its qualification
process.
As the
first-ever WBSC Baseball5 World Cups, all eyes will be on the event to
see who will become the inaugural champions of the five-on-five discipline,
which has been met with enormous success around the world and is expected to
provide new opportunities for the sports of baseball and softball to attract
new players around the world.
Earlier this month, Baseball5 was confirmed as a medal sport of the 2022 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal, Africa. It will be the first time that a baseball/softball discipline will be featured at a Youth Olympic Games. The first edition of the European Baseball5 Championships will be held from February 28 to March 1 in Vilnius in Lithuania.
An urban
version of baseball softball, Baseball5 is proving popular with schools and all
age groups respectively with its fast, fun and simple way to play. Able to be
played on any surface, Baseball5 is a mixed-gender discipline that is played
without a bat or glove and only a ball, which has allowed the WBSC to
exponentially increase accessibility to the sport.
