International Women's Day: Po Chun Liu and how she pushed boundaries

As the world observes International Women's Day on Sunday, March 8, the WBSC celebrates one of baseball's key pioneers - Po Chun Liu, the first-ever female international baseball umpire from Chinese Taipei who is an inspiration to many others in her field.

Liu, or Sophiyah as per her English name, wanted to play baseball as a little girl but aged 13, she was told that she couldn't, since there were no skirts allowed in baseball.

She was in her late twenties when she completed umpire training in 2008, only to learn that there was no gear for her.

She interpreted for the MLB New York Yankees during a clinic in 2009 and the club helped her get some gear. She started umpiring but wasn't allowed to become a home plate umpire. Women in Chinese Taipei were not allowed to touch a baseball.

But despite those challenges, Liu, known as the “Mother of Women’s Baseball” in Chinese Taipei, made her World Cup debut as an umpire at the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup 2010 in Maracay, Venezuela, before going on to feature in Forbes’ 2018 list of the Most Powerful Women in International Sports.

Stories from the Dugout takes us through the whole journey that Liu made to become an international umpire, a role she still performs today. She wanted so much to be a baseball umpire at the top level that she decided to keep umpiring during the Women's World Cup 2018 despite a broken elbow.

Last year, Liu was awarded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Women and Sport World Trophy, the highest distinction that the IOC bestows in the category as part of six “change-makers” advancing women and girls in and through sport, the IOC said.

International Women's Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women's equality.