The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the
paramount importance of having fit and healthy societies. Whilst many countries
around the world are able to provide their populations with services that
support health and encourage physical activity, the same cannot be said for
others.
At the WBSC we believe passionately in the WHO’s principle that “the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition.”
As Chair of the WBSC’s Diversity and Inclusivity Commission, it is my responsibility to promote diversity and gender equity in baseball, softball and Baseball5. The Commission is committed to ensuring that those who want to practice our sport are not denied the opportunity to do so based on their gender, race, physical ability, sexual orientation or economic background.
This is particularly important at a time when global health inequalities have unfortunately been worsened by COVID-19, which has pushed more people into food insecurity and strained their access to healthcare services.
You might also be interested in:
- WBSC Vice President Beatrice Allen named IOC Honorary Member
- WBSC President Fraccari: Baseball-softball must play its role in building back a better world through sport
- International Women’s Day - WBSC Integrity Unit to produce courses on gender equality and women's baseball
- Beng Choo Low: 2020 accelerates adaptation and progress for international baseball/softball
- End-of-the-year message from WBSC President to the global Baseball Softball community
There is no lack of evidence on the role
sport can play in boosting health and promoting active lifestyles. I want to
echo International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach’s words that
“sport and physical activity are the low-cost, high impact tool for healthy
body, healthy minds and resilient communities”.
That is why the WBSC and the global
baseball-softball community must double down on its efforts to make our sport
more accessible than ever before. Whilst baseball-softball have historically
provided opportunities for young children, especially girls, as well as ethnic
minorities to play and stay in sport, our ability to do good around the world
has recently been enhanced after the creation of our newest discipline
Baseball5 in 2017.
The low-cost, high-speed and urban version
of baseball, has allowed us to take our sport and its values to new communities,
which we were not able to reach through our traditional disciplines.
For example, in 2019, with support from
Peace and Sport, we introduced Baseball5 to Zaatari, the world’s largest camp
for Syrian refugees.
In addition, the WBSC also brought
Baseball5 to the Friendship Games in Bujumbura, Burundi, in 2017 and 2018.
Last month, the WBSC joined the Olympic Refuge Foundation's Community (ORF) of Practice, where we will use Baseball5 to increase accessibility to our sport for refugees while the growth of Blind Baseball and Wheelchair Softball around the world is giving more people the chance to play our beautiful game and #StayHealthy and #StayActive.
On World Health Day, I therefore urge the
baseball-softball community to continue to seek out ways in which we can make
our wonderful sport even more accessible for all. In particular, I encourage
you all to target the most marginalised groups in your societies, as they are
the ones who will benefit the most from what our team sport has to offer: inclusivity,
equality and team building.