The International Olympic Committee approved the Dakar 2022 Organising Committee’s proposal to add Baseball5 to the program.
Baseball5 is the fast-paced and youth-focused urban discipline, first established by the WBSC in 2017, is a five-on-five, five-inning street version of baseball softball that requiring virtually no equipment, can be played anywhere.
Baseball5 provides Dakar 2022 with an excellent opportunity to further increase the number of youth-focused sports at the Games.
The discipline is perfectly aligned with a key pillar of Dakar 2022’s vision, which is to engage with Senegal’s young population.
World Baseball Softball Confederation president Riccardo Fraccari was thrilled Baseball5 had been admitted.
“The inclusion of Baseball5 at the Youth Olympic Games is the goal we had set ourselves since the beginning of the project in 2017,” Fraccari said.
“We are proud to have reached it.
“Our newest discipline has seen tremendous growth in recent years.
Its accessibility has increased our ability to grow our sport globally and bring the skills and the values of baseball-softball to young people in under-served communities.
Baseball5’s inclusion will be the first time baseball softball features at a Youth Olympic Games and it will also be the first Olympic team sport to feature mixed-gender teams.
The competition format, qualification pathway and venue planning will be announced throughout the year and will be determined in collaboration with the IOC and Dakar 2022 Organising Committee.
From baseball.com.au.
