WBSC Praise New Women’s Baseball Competition in Australia

June 20, 2014

The World Baseball and Softball Confederation (WBSC) has praised the birth of a new women’s baseball competition in Australia, the Newcastle Women’s Baseball League (NWBL).

The NWBL season has just been launched and will offer six weeks of competition among its four founding clubs (Toronto, Belmont, University and the All-Stars).

Baseball/softball were in the running to be included in the 2020 Olympic Games, but ultimately lost out to wrestling, who were re-instated at the 125th International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session in Buenos Aires last year.

Since then, the sports have forged the WBSC and are looking at ways to reach their Olympic goals, which includes more opportunities for women.

Riccardo Fraccari, President of WBSC said: “As well as softball, which is one of the sports women most like to play globally, baseball is also growing in popularity amongst young women, and provides new opportunities for women to participate in sport and share in the benefits of sport.

“The IOC leadership and expert committees – along with dedicated IOC members and Olympians such as Ms. Anita DeFrantz – deserve much credit for raising the profile of women’s sport and awareness of the importance of getting more women and young girls into sport, and it is now up to sports leaders and federations such as the WBSC to find new ways to introduce more women into their sports.”

WBSC’s Secretary General, Ms. Beng Choo Low, said baseball and softball’s global governing body will do all it can to support the IOC in its campaign for women in sport.

“The bat-and-ball sports of baseball and softball continue to grow in popularity amongst women and men, and have a huge global youth appeal,” she said.

“We must respond to this growing worldwide interest in baseball and softball, and help local officials and leagues to provide the services and facilities where possible to help boys and girls realise their sporting dreams, including their Olympic dreams to represent their country at the highest level of sport,” she added.