Girls, Strike it Out Workshop: WBSC co-hosts injury prevention and self-protection workshop for youth athletes in Taiwan
On November 26th, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), along with the Taiwan Sport Forward Association (TSFA), the Chinese Taipei Softball Association, the Taipei Karate Association and The Gaia Hotel, co-organised the Girls, Strike it Out Workshop, an educational activity for youth female athletes about injury prevention and self- protection from harassment and abuse.
The workshop, held in Taipei City, was attended by 30 baseball/softball athletes from Taiwan, three baseball athletes from Malaysia, and many coaches. The course included an introduction to sports injury and prevention; personal defence clinics; gender equality in sports; and body boundaries.
WBSC International Umpire and the IOC Women and Sport Awardee Po Chun Liu, who founded the TFSA, led the workshop.
"We are very grateful to be part of this great initiative pioneered by Po Chun Liu to protect our athletes from all forms of harassment and abuse at the national level," said Michael Schmidt, WBSC Executive Director. "Safeguarding is not just one person’s responsibility; it is the responsibility of everybody involved in sport.
"In 2023, the WBSC has increased our efforts to stamp out the harassment and abuse of athletes at all levels in sport, delivering educational workshops to officials, coaches and players at all WBSC events," Schmidt added.
The TSFA has been working with the Chinese Taipei Women's National Softball Team for the last three years, including supporting the U-15 National Team that finished fourth in the World Cup this year.
Among the next steps, the TSFA aims to hold this workshop in Malaysia for baseball athletes (tentatively in the summer of 2024), as well as the continuation of the workshop in Taiwan.
