The WBSC Women’s Development Commission completed its first development activity last month in Indonesia, as the first step of a programme that will spread around the world in 2020.

With the support of the WBSC Development Commission, the WBSC Women’s Development Commission has launched a Women’s Baseball Development Programme for the continuous development of girls and women’s baseball around the world.

For the first phase, Asian Federations were offered the opportunity to boost the skills of their female baseball players, coaches and administrators through the delivery of programs run by WBSC presenters. Four countries were selected for the first stage, based on their requests: Indonesia, Laos, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka.

The first of the programmes was run from 15-17 November in Indonesia with coaches from Japan (four-time world champion Ayako Rokkaku) and Australia (former player and coach turned administrator Narelle Gosstray). The programme included instructional clinics in the morning for the 60 U-15 Indonesia players, and games in the afternoon between the four participating regions: Malang, Banten, Bandung and Bali.

The WBSC coaches provided instruction to both players and coaches over the three days covering hitting, pitching, base running, infield and outfield. During the games, the WBSC coaches observed and provided feedback and advice to both players and coaches.

One of the sessions was dedicated to sharing experiences aimed at inspiring the younger generation. Rokkaku and Gosstray were joined by Taiwanese umpire Sophiyah Liu who spoke about overcoming barriers, setting goals and working hard to achieve them.

Programmes for Laos, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka will be scheduled for early 2020.

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Narelle Gosstray (Australia) - Baseball Australia, AUS gov’t launch baseball social initiative for youth, women in Indonesia

Sophiyah Liu (Taiwan) - WBSC Baseball World Cup umpire Po Chun Liu earns IOC Women and Sport top award