The WBSC Blind Baseball International Cup 2024 showcased Blind Baseball's exciting potential with eight national teams participating - two more than the inaugural edition in 2022, and continental representation increased in Asia, the Americas and Europe.
The first edition of the WBSC Blind Baseball International Cup played in Beek in the Netherlands, had six participating teams with the United States the only non-European programme. Sanctioning a Blind Baseball event for the first time marked a WBSC milestone. The second Blind Baseball International Cup helped the discipline take a giant step towards internationalisation.
Cuba won the tournament defeating the favourites Italy in a thrilling final under the September sun in London, in the United Kingdom.
In an innovative collaboration, Legend and the WBSC delivered digital trophies, in MP3 - an accessible audio format, to the winners, marking a groundbreaking milestone for the global sports community. The initiative highlights integration and accessibility in sport through cutting-edge digital technology.
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.
Nick Parr, chair of the WBSC Paralympic Commission, 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 in Ankara, a research expert in parasports classification, and the head of classification for the World Shooting Para Sports (WSPS).
WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari commented: "Blind Baseball is finding its place in our global community and is experiencing great momentum in international exposure and recognition. We have a very active commission of experts in various fields, and I am confident that soon, the IPC will recognise our efforts".
Blind Baseball was developed in Italy 30 years ago, thanks to the late Afredo Meli, a former Italian Baseball National League player. The WBSC Blind Baseball Rulebook, a 75-page manual illustrated with diagrams, is based on the game developed in Italy.
The Rino Veronesi Stadium in Casalecchio di Reno, near Bologna, hosted on October 16, 1994, the first-ever blind baseball game on Italian soil. For the record, Aquilone Empoli Red Sox defeated Bologna White Sox, 15-11.
"We celebrate 30 years of activity in 2024, a year we will remember for the success of the II WBSC Blind Baseball International Cup," stated the Italian Blind Baseball Association (AIBxC, a WBSC Associate Member) in a press release. "Our version of blind baseball comes from an original idea of the late Alfredo Meli. Umberto Calzolari and Alberto Mazzanti took the game where it is now."
Italy has an 11-team Blind Baseball League (LIBCI). Hurricane Varese defeated Leonessa Brescia, 5-4, in the final to claim the 2024 LIBCI title.
AIBxC and LIBCI hosted a blind baseball development initiative on Saturday, 18 May, at the end of the LIBCI game between Fortitudo Bologna and Fiorentina at the Leoni Field in Bologna, 8-6.
A group of children in the 7-13 age bracket, following a blind baseball introduction course held by Adriano Chiesa on behalf of Real Eyes, joined the White Sox and Fiorentina players on the field and received instruction on how to run the bases.
The initiative is supported by the Francesco Corazza Institute in Bologna, an organization that has operated since 1881 to offer opportunities for inclusion to blind people.
AIBxC also participated to a programme by the Italian Paralympic Committee introducing blind baseball in two high schools.
In 2024, the WBSC took a massive step towards introducing Blind Baseball in China. Wuxi, a city in the southern Jiangsu province, 140 kilometres from Shanghai, will be home to the first blind baseball team in China. On 1 April, 15 players from Changzhou, Jiangyin, Suzhou and Wuxi City gathered at the Taihu Square Football Stadium for their first blind baseball practice. Two experienced baseball coaches ran the activity with the assistance of 15 volunteers, who were also in charge of the players' safety.
In early 2023, the WBSC donated four blind baseball starter kits to the Chinese Baseball Association. The WBSC and the Chinese Baseball Association introduced blind baseball in Wuxi in August 2023 with a course involving 90 visually impaired people, volunteers and media members. The WBSC also supported the participation of two Chinese coaches in a clinic held in Bologna, Italy, before the inaugural Blind Baseball European Championship.
The year ended with a remarkable inclusion initiative. The Puerto Rico Baseball Federation (FBPR) partnered with the Health Department of Las Piedras to offer a baseball clinic to fans with an intellectual impairment.
The Hope Baseball Clinic - Operacion Alegria (Operation Joy) involved 15 participants who practised pitching and hitting with National Team manager and former Major League Baseball (MLB) star Juan Igor Gonzalez (who led Puerto Rico at last month's WBSC Premier12 2024 presented by RAXUS), his assistant coach Eddie Gonzalez, second baseman Richard Gonzalez and pitcher José Soler. Igor Gonzalez donated autographed baseballs to all participants.
