Blind Baseball takes important step towards the future

Twenty days ago, Cuba won the WBSC Blind Baseball International Cup 2024 defeating Italy in a thrilling final and opening a new chapter in the discipline's development.

Blind Baseball was developed in Italy in the early 1990s thanks to the late Afredo Meli, a former Italian Baseball National League player. The Italian Blind Baseball Association (AIBxC; a WBSC Associate Member) has been instrumental in helping the game grow.

The first edition of the WBSC Blind Baseball International Cup, which was played in 2022 in Beek in the Netherlands, had six participating teams. The United States was the only non-European programme. The second Blind Baseball International Cup helped the discipline take a giant step towards internationalisation.

“It was an honour and a pleasure to have welcomed the blind baseball community from around the world to Farnham Park for this second edition of the WBSC Blind Baseball International Cup,” said Chris Deacon, the Chair of the Local Organising Committee. “The spread of the sport worldwide is genuinely awe-inspiring, and I trust that we will see even more global representation in two years.

"British baseball and softball came together to host an incredible festival of high-performance sport for the visually impaired," added John Boyd, CEO of BaseballSoftballUK. "It was an inspiring celebration of talent, resilience, and teamwork. The efforts of all the wonderful people from across the country and world who worked hard to put the event on made it even more special. "

Sanctioning a Blind Baseball event for the first time, marked a WBSC milestone in 2022. WBSC Chief Operating Officer Marco Ienna witnessed both editions on the ground.

"We have had two incredible events," Ienna said. "Being there and feeling the passion of these talented athletes was touching and inspiring. I wish all baseball lovers could have the pleasure of attending future editions of this event in person. The level of play increases every year."

Continental representation is vital to further development.

"I was happy to see diverse continental representation and new countries like Pakistan and China battling with great determination and resilience," commented WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari. "For the third edition, I hope to see participation from all five continents."

"We have a lot of work to do to develop this discipline further, but I think we are on the right track. We have recently appointed experts in classification, and I am sure this will bring even more equity into the game," added Ienna.

Related News

In London last month, Asia (China, Pakistan) participated in international Blind Baseball for the first time. Three European countries (Italy, Great Britain and the Netherlands) returned after participating in the maiden edition, while Hungary debuted in 2024. The United States had represented the Americas in 2022, while Cuba joined for the second edition.

Officers from Sweden (Jimy Wigh Föreningen Gruden GBG Foundation), Chinese Taipei (Chairman Wei-Chieh Pan and Administrator Wei-Kang Pan from Baseball Disabled Taipei), and Japan (Founder and President Kentaro Narita and CEO Naoko Nakai from Sound Baseball Japan) attended the event. The three countries intend to introduce a Blind Baseball programme.

"These three countries showed a concrete interest in Blind Baseball," commented AIBxC President Alberto Mazzanti. "Hopefully, they will be able to participate in international events soon. Mr Wei-Chieh Pan intends to advocate Blind Baseball in Korea."

Blind Baseball's next challenge would be seeking the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) recognition.

Nick Parr, WBSC Paralympic Commission Chair, and Eva Trevisan, a Commission member and the AIBxC Vice President, welcomed to the tournament Professor Jan Burns (IPC Classification Committee Chair) and Cigdem Oksuz (PT PhD), a professor at the Hacettepe University Health Sciences Faculty Ankara, a research expert in the classification of parasports and the head of classification for World Shooting Para Sports (WSPS);

"I'm very happy for the success of the Blind Baseball International Cup and the contacts we had with the IPC," added Mazzanti. "Let me thank, on behalf of the AIBxC, the British Baseball Federation, BaseballSoftballUK and the WBSC staff for making this possible."

"Blind Baseball is finding its place in our global community and is experiencing great momentum in international exposure and recognition," added Fraccari on a final note. "We have a very active commission of experts in various fields, and I am confident that soon, the IPC will recognise our efforts".