Getting back to the Olympic program: that is the great challenge baseball today in the world facing, in Havana Dr. Antonio Castro Soto del Valle, Vice President of the International Federation of Amateur Baseball (IBAF ) said in lecture offered in the Havana’s Conventions Center.
The official, who spoke on the new proposal by the international body for the return of the discipline at the summer events, explained that, given the current conditions in the world of sports, baseball and softball has only left the path of evolution to survive.
Both disciplines officially will be unified in March 2014 in a single board, when the constitutive Congress of the World Confederation of Baseball Softball (WBSC), an institution that will cover more than 65 million practitioners around the world. The WBSC has already been approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and established its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Antonio Castro recognized the importance of presenting a new proposal to the IOC, in which two tournaments of just six days each will be included, with eight teams per capita in a single stadium, and the presence of nearly 300 players , with which investment costs are reduced and increases the efficiency of the organizing committee of the Olympics.
Moreover, as added values to the proposal before the governing body of the Olympic highlights the broad commercial potential, show vision, profitability and decreased playing time, point baseball is criticized for.
Also Dr. Castro Soto del Valle made it clear that it is necessary to strengthen the approach to the professional leagues, the MLB essentially to favor the presence of top players in international competitions. “Today, thanks to new strategies set, relations with professional leagues has changed a lot. You cannot be afraid to come and have relations with them, it is undeniable that they handle large numbers of resources and have the best players, “he added.
These, no doubt, are great news. The participation of great stars of the sport would be a great incentive for the IOC to reconsider its current position. In the words of the speaker, leagues “really are committed to preparation programs and especially with the return to the Olympic program.” However, it will be better to wait and see if the owners of the large franchises think alike.
So far, the truth is that baseball and softball are out of the Olympics, but not all doors are closed. During the conference Castro made it clear that he hopes to include both disciplines in Tokyo 2020, when they should be defining the renewal by IOC members and the influence exercised by the host country is not yet lost.
The image of the major professional leagues as promoting the expansion of baseball and its sponsoring major events is attractive and favors both parties at the moment, hopefully then the formula that has so far reconciled interests will be sustainable.
Castro also gave some figures showing acceptance of the baseball and softball on every continent, among which he mentioned the presence of 137 federations that make up the WBSC.
The conference at the First International Symposium of Applied Sciences at Baseball, which meets as part of the activities of the V International Conference on Physical Activity and Sport, was also attended by the President of the IBAF , Ricardo Fraccari , who explained that baseball is one of the most static sports , something that needs to be transformed if they are to gain ground among its fans. “To fish you need to think like a fish, not a fisherman “he said.
Besides Fraccari sports glories as Rodolfo Puente and Javier Mendez, Alcides Sagarra and current National Commissioner of Baseball, Higinio Velez, were present at the Center.
Baseball refuses to die and goes back for more, supported by a renewed and attractive in appearance, but without sacrificing the essence of its practice, it has become clear. With a fresh and attractive proposition from every point of view it tries to seduce his detractors and add new fans.
The cards are already on the table. We can only hope so, and if necessary to pray that in 2020, back in the distant Tokyo, we again heard the always expected: PLAY BALL!
