The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) continued its series of video conference calls on Tuesday (23 June), gathering members of the Africa Baseball and Softball Association, representing 18 nations.
The continental video conference included African representatives of the national baseball and/or softball federations of Benin, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Gambia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
WBSC Executive Director Michael Schmidt was joined by WBSC Treasurer Angelo Vicini and WBSC Executive Board Member Beatrice Allen, a Gambian National, together with the respective National Federations, to discuss the latest developments on the international calendar and get an update on the current status in Africa.
With the international sports events calendar seriously affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, various WBSC World Cups have been postponed as continental championships/qualification tournaments have themselves been postponed.
The WBSC and African baseball and softball leaders also discussed potential updates to the constitution as well as the development plan for the next few years. With development activities essentially halted by the Covid-19 pandemic, the WBSC is looking to run future clinics online in an effort to circumvent the travel and safety restrictions currently in place due to the coronavirus while also opening the door for more people to participate in the courses.
The video conference also provided the opportunity for the WBSC to introduce and answer questions on the good governance survey it recently launched with all WBSC Continental Associations. The WBSC itself is partaking in the ASOIF Good Governance review and the WBSC has introduced a similar model for its Continental Associations.
A total of 22 members (out of 27) from 18 countries from the Africa Baseball and Softball Association joined the call.
