The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) was formed in 2013 to create a single federation designed to permanently align, merge and manage the ultimate aspirations of the sports and to achieve our global vision of giving every boy and girl in the world a chance to play the game.
Following the guidance of the International Olympic Committee who indicated the necessity for baseball and softball team up in order to be jointly considered for inclusion in the Olympic programme, the two independent International Federations set out on a path toward a full and complete merger.
In 2012 the WBSC established a memorandum of understanding between the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and the International Softball Federation (ISF) that essentially laid out the ground rules for partnership and begin work on a Constitution that would guide the merger and provide a framework for governance, ethics and operations.
At the historic IBAF Congress in Tokyo in April 2013, the Constitution was ratified and since it had already been approved by an ISF working group empowered to do so, the WBSC was officially formalized and empowered.
Softball Canada has been a member of the WBSC Softball Division (formerly known as the International Softball Federation) for over 50 years. There are over 128 countries affiliated with the WBSC Softball Division. The WBSC Softball Division (WBSC-SD) is the governing body of softball internationally as recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and SportAccord (formerly the General Association of International Sports Federations - GAISF).
The WBSC-SD organizes and conducts world championship competition in women's and men's fast pitch, junior women's and men's fast pitch, women's, men's and coed slow pitch and women's and men's modified pitch. The WBSC-SD sanctions regional championships and provides technical support to Regional (Multi-Sport) Games. The WBSC-SD provides the official playing rules for international competition including but not limited to; world championships, regional championships, regional Games and other sanctioned competitions.
The WBSC-SD affiliates national associations/federations as members of the ISF and conducts a biennial Congress for its affiliates. The WBSC-SD is non-profit corporation incorporated in the United States of America.
The International Softball Federation had successfully lobbied the International Olympic Committee to have softball designated a medal sport. Through his dedication and belief in our sport, former ISF President Don Porter’s dream finally became reality in 1996 when Softball had its spectacular Olympic debut in Atlanta, GA, U.S.A. This event drew more than 120,000 fans, and was followed by the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, the 2004 Olympics in Athens, and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Unfortunately, the sport of softball was officially removed from the Olympic programme in 2009. Softball is indeed an ideal Olympic sport encompassing the Olympic requisites of athletic agility, strength and speed. It is a sport that is played competitively in more than 128 countries with regional/continental, national and world championship events of competition. It is now played on every continent. Softball is also on the program of other major competitions such as the Pan American Games, the Asian Games, the South Pacific Games, the Southeast Asian Games and the Central American Games.
Softball incorporates many virtues promoted by the International Olympic Committee. To name a few, softball is played by both males and females, equipment costs are minimal and the playing facilities can be easily adapted from existing fields.
Since 1965, the WBSC Softball Division has conducted World Championships in four-year cycles for men, women, junior men and junior women. Since 2012, all four categories have World Championships every two years, with Women and Junior Men categories held in even years, and Men and Junior Women categories held in uneven years.
WBSC Americas (formerly known as CONPASA) was founded on July 3, 1979 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, during the VIII Pan American Games, when Softball leaders from Netherlands Antilles, Argentina,Belize, Bermuda, Colombia, El Salvador, Mexico, Panama, Dominican Republic and Venezuela, met with the purpose of establishing the Pan American Softball Confederation Amateur Softball.
The entity is proposed to organize, develop and promote Female and Male Softball in a coordinated manner, in all countries of the American continent, and regulate the Pan American Softball competitions.
Currently the WBSC Americas has 28 member countries, covering from the North Pole to the southernmost point of our continent: Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Curacao, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Turks and Caicos Island, United States, US Virgin Islands, and Venezuela.
All these countries, full members of WBSC Americas, give our organization a unique cultural diversity, which undoubtedly enriches our body and also gives us an idea of the globality that Softball has acquired in the recent decades. However, beyond this cultural diversity, all these countries have in common the passion for our sport, which no doubt characterizes and distinguishes us from the rest of the world.
The main objectives of WBSC Americas are leadership and encourage Pan American Softball, gather under one organization the countries that practice our sport; and organize, approve and regulate Softball competitions at the Pan American Games, and all the Pan American Championships.
