Baseball5 helps Run the Bases Program in Gambia

The potential of Baseball5, the game format launched in late 2017 by WBSC, has been recently showcased by Run the Bases, a newly formed Sport for Development organization.

Run The Bases engaged the community of Gambia, the small country on the Atlantic coast of Africa, on a program that aims to develop the knowledge of local coaches in order to build a sustainable sport program for girls.

In Gambia there is no baseball or softball field. This couldn’t stop a demonstration of Baseball5. The entire coaching staff walked down to the beach and trained. Sticks and flip flops were the only tools necessary to draw bases in the sand.

The process of setting the bases for Baseball5 on the beach

Since WBSC has not yet approved an official rule book, coaches needed to be creative. But, according to a Run the Bases press release, the spirit of street baseball was kept intact.

Run the Bases was born to tackle gender inequalities in sport. Former softball player at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Tara Henry (USA), Sebastian Cirillo (Italy) and Kelly Smith (UK) are developing the organization.