07/12/2022 2 Minute Read

Federation Focus shines spotlight on nine Member Federations in 2022

Since its launch in early 2020, the column has investigated the baseball and softball programmes of 31 WBSC Member Federations.

The third year of the Federation Focus series visited nine national federations in 2022.

Asia: Bhutan, Chinese Taipei Baseball Association, Malaysia

In February, we tried to find out more about one of the WBSC's newest members, the Bhutan Baseball & Softball Association (BBSA). Co-founder and serving president Karma Dorji told the WBSC how everything started with an invitation to the World Children's Baseball Fair.
Matthew DeSantis, a Connecticut (USA) native who commented, "I moved to Bhutan and brought baseball with me", helped him introduce baseball to the country in 2013.
Bhutan launched its first youth league in 2021.

The WBSC virtually travelled to Malaysia in May to meet the local Softball Association (SAM).
We learned that, despite having played 46 Men's and Women's National Championship, SAM was still struggling to secure its players proper fields. Secretary general Willeam Mah Choon How told the WBSC that Baseball5 may change the course of development in Malaysia.

In June, the scenario totally changed as we had the chance to meet the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association (CTBA), an international hub and the winner of the Federation of the Year award in 2019.

CTBA went international after the legendary accomplishment of the Hongye school team in 1968, which is depicted on the NTD 500 banknote. It nowadays oversees a strong youth baseball movement, with approximately 188 U-12, 130 U-15 and 46 U-18 teams participating in school programmes all over the island.

Africa: Kenya, South Africa

The series took us to Kenya in April. We discovered that the Baseball Federation of Kenya and the Kenya Softball Federation are working together to build the country's National Baseball5 Teams.

We spoke with president Francis Njeru Karugu and learned that Softball Kenya oversees the adult Baseball5 National Team. We also spoke to president Titus Mutwiri and learned that Baseball Kenya is responsible for the Youth National Teams.

In July we met the leading country in Africa. We spoke with the South African Baseball Union's president, Marc Moreau, and U-12 National Team manager Ian Griebenow to find out more about the country's plan to take development to the next level.

Americas: Peru

Our 2022 virtual World Tour began in Peru. The Peruvian Softball Federation had just hosted the WBSC U-18 Women's Softball World Cup. "Three years ago, hosting a World Cup looked just like a dream," President Vanessa Endo told the WBSC.

Europe: Czechia, Türkiye

In March, the Federation Focus series virtually landed in Türkiye, a country between two continents, Europe and Asia. The Baseball and Softball Federation, a member of WBSC Europe, was established in 2001 but started participating in international competitions in 2017. President Murat Pazan, a former professional wrestler, believes: "You will learn to win by defeat."

We made another trip to Europe in August to find out more about the baseball programme in the Czech Republic, the second-highest-rated European nation in the WBSC Baseball World Rankings. Petr Ditrich, who has chaired the Czech Baseball Association since its founding, told the WBSC: "The position in the WBSC ranking is our reward."

Later in the season, the Czech National Team earned the right to participate in the World Baseball Classic 202.

Oceania: New Zealand

Our last Federation Focus episode of the year took us to New Zealand. Softball New Zealand's Glen Roff helped us discover the tradition of softball in a country which fans worldwide mostly associate with the mighty All Blacks rugby team.

The Black Sox were the most successful men's softball national team, having won seven World Cups and earned four silver and two bronze medals before Canada surpassed them with their 14th medal at the latest WBSC Men's Softball World Cup edition in Auckland, New Zealand last week.

Since the Federation Focus series opened in 2020, it has explained how 31 federations are developing our game and explored the tools they're using to continue to make baseball and softball a global game.

You may also be interested in:
- 2021 Federation Focus series
- 2020 Federation Focus series