(Story & Photo by Marco Stoovelaar)
       
       Baseball and Softball Confederations of Oceania merge
Nederlands
 NOUMÉA (New Caledonia) -
On Thursday (December 20), the World Baseball Softball Association (WBSC) announced that the Baseball Confederation of Oceania (BCO) and the Oceania Softball Confederation (OSC) completed a historic merger during a joint Congress in Nouméa, the capital of New Caledonia.
With the merger, WBSC Oceania was launched.
Fourteen National Federations are now members of WBSC Oceania, being American Samoa, Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Guam, Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Republic of Palau, Papua New Guinea, Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands), Solomon Islands and Samoa.
The Head Office of WBSC Oceania will be based in the Australian city of Melbourne, replacing the authority of the BCO and OSC.
During the Congress, it was stated that ''WBSC Oceania has on overarching role of promoting, profiling and developing the sport of baseball and softball in the Oceania region, while also using the sport as a tool for social development.
WBSC Oceania mirrors the newly developed structure of the World Baseball Softball Confederation''.
...Riccardo Fraccari...
(© Photo: Marco Stoovelaar) |
WBSC Oceania is the third joint continental body as the highest entity for baseball and softball in its territories.
The others are the African Baseball and Softball Association (ABSA) and WBSC Europe.
In February of this year, the European Baseball Confederation (CEB) and European Softball Federation (ESF) merged to become WBSC Europe.
Riccardo Fraccari, the President of the WBSC, reacted:
,,WBSC applauds the shared vision of baseball and softball’s leaders and National Federations in Oceania.
This historic merger marks another key step toward baseball and softball’s continued evolution and advancement into a major global sport''.
The WBSC was formed on April 14, 2013 when the International BAseball Federation (IBAF) and International Softball Federation (ISF) merged at the Congress in Tunisia.
208 National Federations in 141 countries and territories are members of the WBSC.
At the Congress in Nouméa, which now has become the first Congress of WBSC Oceania, a Transition Executive Board was elected.
There will be new elections in 2021.
Laurent Cassier, the President of the BCO, and Rex Capil, the President of the OSC, became Vice President of Baseball and Softball respectively.
They also will serve as co-President of WBSC Oceania until the elections in 2021.
(December 20)
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