Softball remains on the cutting edge of gender equity as Olympians Greta Cechetti and Saskia Kosterink join IOC WISH programme

Softball Olympians Greta Cechetti (ITA) and Saskia Kosterink (NED) have begun their participation in the Women In Sport High Performance Pathway Programme (WISH), an IOC-supported initiative designed to advance leadership and coaching opportunities for women in high-performance sport. Both coaches are World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) nominees to the programme.

The WBSC's participation in this programme is aimed at increasing the number of women involved in Baseball/Softball coaching. Having started with three participants in 2025, the WBSC will continue nominating Baseball/Softball candidates to join this programme to increase women coaches representation in WBSC World Cups and at the Olympics to help to provide more role models for the next generations.

WISH is a 21-month, values-driven leadership development pathway, supported by Olympic Solidarity and several International Federations. It brings together outstanding high-performance women coaches from around the world, offering a unique learning environment to strengthen their leadership competencies and accelerate their professional progression. Cechetti and Kosterink's cohort will conclude in August 2027.

Created to support IOC Gender Equality Objective 15 - which aims to increase the representation of women coaches at World Championships and the Olympic Games, where women currently constitute only 13% of coaches - the programme has already welcomed 125 women coaches from 22 sports and 60 countries since its inception.

Softball, one of only two women-only disciplines in the LA28 Olympic programme (together with rhythmic gymnastics), has long been at the forefront of gender equity, with many women serving as coaches, umpires and officials at the highest international level.

At the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, 24% of the coaches in the men's baseball and women's softball tournaments were female, including 48% in softball.

That number increases in 2025 with 45% female representation at the WBSC U-18 Women's Softball World Cup, 57% at women's softball at The World Games and 58% at the WBSC U-15 Women's Softball World Cup. The combined tally of 53% representation over the year represents the highest number of women coaches that have featured in a WBSC season since the start of such records began in 2018. 

Cechetti, a renowned Italian pitcher who represented Italy at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, was appointed Pitching Coach of the Italy Women’s National Softball Team in February 2025.

Kosterink, who competed for the Netherlands at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, has been the Head Coach of the Netherlands Women’s National Softball Team since 2024, following roles as Head Coach of the U-18 programme and Assistant Coach of the senior team.

Both coaches now aim to guide their national teams back to the Olympic stage - this time from the dugout - as Italy and the Netherlands will compete for a berth at the LA28 Olympic Games.

Additionally, South Africa baseball coach Haylee Scott, who became a member of the WBSC Coach Commission in 2022, is part of Cohort 5 (cover photo) of the WISH programme, which began in May 2025 and will conclude in December 2026.