U-15 Women’s Softball World Cup paves way for LA28 prospects
The WBSC U-15 Women’s Softball World Cup provides a perfect vehicle of continuing the legacy of Tokyo 2020 and making it a platform for younger athletes to reach their Olympic dreams and inspire more to pursue softball.
The event will take place across three venues – Komazawa Olympic Park Sports Complex Baseball Stadium, Setagaya City Okura Sports Centre Baseball Ground and Ota Stadium - in Tokyo, Japan from 21-29 October.
“Earlier this week, we saw softball confirmed as part of the sports programme for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028,” WBSC secretary general Beng Choo Low said during her speech at the press conference on Friday.
“This came after much hard work done by the WBSC and our other stakeholders, and we believe that the global nature of our sport played a large role in its selection. It is also fitting that we are here in Tokyo for this event, two years after softball took centre stage during the Tokyo Games.
“There, we saw softball’s biggest stars compete for the gold medal during an exciting competition, and the IOC’s announcement means that we will see future Olympians in action at the World Cup.”
For World No. 1 USA and World No. 2 Japan, they see the U-15 World Cup not to pit them as rivals, but rather as collaborators benefitting from cooperation and solidarity for the sport.
“It’s a wonderful experience to be here and to be able to play softball in Japan. That is more important than rivalry. I think we are good friends rather than rivals. We really look after each other and raise the level of softball around the world, and it’s still a great sport, so I think we’re good friends in that sense.” USA head coach Kyla Holas said.
“For me USA is a good friend than being a rival. We have competed with the USA team and we always played good games. The most important goal of this tournament is to showcase softball as a great sport for young girls to love and enjoy,” Japan coach Yu Yamamoto added.
“In Tokyo, we showed the next generation how great of a sport softball is and that people of all ages can love it. We are happy that softball will be back at the next Olympics – from Tokyo 2020 to LA28.”
Head coaches of Brazil, Czechia, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico and Chinese Taipei each highlighted their team’s strengths, creating a vibrant and exciting age-group competition.
Milton Satoshi Konno – Brazil
“Our strength is happiness that is an inherent characteristic of Brazilians. I hope that through this happiness, we can enjoy this tournament, we can enjoy the sport with players and coaches of other teams.”
Daniela Viktorynova – Czechia
“Czechia’s strength is that we have good athletes on our backs. We will play with all our might.”
Maristella Perizzolo – Italy
“The team’s cohesiveness is Italy’s strength. We are happy that we are able to take part in such a competition. Our goal is for our players to enjoy this competition and give their best performance.”
Cesar Arturo Alcaraz de Anda – Mexico
“We are very happy to be here in Japan. We are a 16-strong team with good attack. For me, our depth is our strength. Our offence is great and all the players have a clear sense of purpose for being here.”
Anthea Nadene Stringer – New Zealand
“Our strength would be whanau, which means family in Maori language. Our team shares the passion of being together as a family. We support each other and support those around us and learn from tournaments.”
Abel Jorge Fernandez Portelles – Peru
“Our players have great experience. Our players know their responsibilities and they have confidence in day-to-day games. We trained really hard and well for this competition. Therefore, our strong point is that we have a high-level of discipline.”
Nina Avila Serafico – Philippines
“My girls are very passionate about the game. The players enjoy playing very much. Their determination will lead to bigger things because we always help each other out. We are very happy to be here, and we will enjoy each moment because it’s already a privilege to be here. We fight with a heart.”
Geraldo Flores Malave – Puerto Rico
“I want to thank everyone for making this event happen. I am very happy to come to Japan and our team hopes that we will have a good performance against different countries. We hope to win our games here.”
Mei-Fen Chen – Chinese Taipei
“This competition will be the first in this group, which we should all celebrate because we all created history. I am pleased to share this experience with all the teams.
The opening day will feature five games between Philippines and Czechia, Peru and Mexico at 08:30 local time, Chinese Taipei and host Japan at 13:30, Brazil and USA at 16:00, and New Zealand and Italy at 16:30.
All these matches will be broadcast live on GameTime.
