End of the year message from the WBSC President to the global baseball softball community

Dear baseball and softball athletes, leaders, WBSC partners, media representatives, and fans around the world.

When I look back over what has been avery successful and busy 12 months, I am filled with a sense of pride and majorachievement and am looking forward with great anticipation to what 2023 willbring. 

This time last year I was reflectingon baseball and softball’s successful return to the Olympic Games at Tokyo2020, the WBSC’s participation in the inaugural Olympic Virtual Series as wellas the staging of our first WBSC Baseball and Softball World Cups in nearly twoyears following the pandemic. Now, we can look back proudly on afull calendar of events in 2022, complete with fans in the stands.

This year has certainly been ahistoric year for our International Federation as it has seen the celebrationof threevery important and new WBSC events: the first Baseball5 Senior World Cup inMexico, the first Virtual Cup with the final in Seoulas well as the inaugural Blind Baseball International Cup. Three events that have hadgreat success and further increased the engagementand participation with our sport around the world.

The Baseball5
World Cup in-particular was amazing, surpassing even my highest expectations.
This fast-paced, dynamic, and youth-orientated sport has won the hearts andminds of so many and opened the door to many more to engage with our sport. Itfeatured for the first time, three African Nations - Tunisia, South Africa andKenya all taking part in a WBSC World Cup. My congratulations to Tunisia formaking its WBSC World Cup debut in Mexico and becoming the 79thnation/territory, and ninth African nation to feature in a WBSC event.

We are ofcourse looking forward to Baseball5’s debut at the Youth Olympic Games inDakar, 2026 as well as the first ever WBSC Youth Baseball5 World Cup in 2023,which will enjoy a combination of sport and education in a festival setting tohelp inspire future generations.

Always prioritising youth engagement,I was pleased to take our first steps on our eSport journey thisyear, witha dedicatedeSports strategy including partnerships with leading companiesin the industry, and the staging of the inaugural eSport event - the WBSCVirtual Cup – with our partner Newdin. With a record 8,146 entries,this dynamic and ground-breaking event is a perfect illustration of how theWBSC is adapting and innovating to reach new audiences and create newopportunities for people to engage with our sport.

Ourimpressive events calendar as well as the multi-sport eventswhere baseball and softball are featured, including next year’s Asian Gamesin Hangzhou, China - demonstrate the worldwide popularity of our sport and howit adds important value andglobal appeal to the sporting landscape. It also reinforces our case forbaseball and softball to be on the Olympic programme for LA28. Softball was sosuccessful during The World Games this year, that the WBSC is confident thatMen’s Softball can be added in the next edition of The World Games that will bestaged in Chengdu, China in 2025.

Of course, this year we also had theopportunity to be together for the first time since the pandemic at the WBSCCongress in Taipei City. There, I had the honour of being re-elected asPresident of the WBSC for the 2022-2029 term and having passed many milestones inmy first term, I am incredibly excited and enthusiastic about the journeyahead. So, thank you for placing your trust in me again as we continueto take oursport to new levels and explore new opportunities.

The WBSC 2022-28 Strategic
Plan is a key tool in this process. Aligned with the IOC’s Agenda2020+5, it will guide our united efforts to strengthen baseball-softballglobally while ensuring we lead the sport with integrity and focus.

We must now reflect and think notonly about 2023 but also make a careful analysis of the long-term objectivesthat we must achieve, not being afraid to change what is no longer suited totoday's reality. The world has changed radically due to the pandemic, theeconomy has suffered and is deeply affected by it. Habits and ways of workinghave changed and therefore perhaps we too are involved in this process ofchange. We must keep this in mind to continue to be at the forefront and knowhow to anticipate changes, without instead having to react to them, as we havedone so far with impressive results for the development of baseball/softball.

Let’s buildthe future of our sport together, leaving a legacy for future generations wecan all be proud of.

I take this opportunity to thank youagain for your support and I send you my warmest wishes for a wonderful holidayseason and for much happiness and continued success in the coming New Year.