Korea hosts Women's Baseball Festival

The inaugural International Women's Baseball Festival was successfully staged in Jucheon, Korea from 2-3 March. The Jecheon Baseball/Softball Association and the Korea Youth Baseball Club Federation hosted the event, which was also supported by the Women's Baseball Association Korea (WBAK), a member of the Korea Baseball Softball Association (KBSA).

The tournament, which included 12 teams from across South Korea, as well as Japan, Taiwan and China, served as the launch of the 2024 Women’s Baseball League season in South Korea.

Jucheon has approximately 131,000 inhabitants and is in North Chungcheong Province (or Chungbuk), located in the Hoseo region in the south-center of the Korean Peninsula. After hosting a National Team event last year, the city aims to become a women's baseball hub in the country.

WBAK selected its squad among participants in the Asia Cup and the WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup last year. Jae Hong Han was the manager.

Other participating teams included the Hokkaido Hornets Ladies from Japan and the Taipei Vanguard from Chinese Taipei - a team originally formed in 2001, which includes 28 players from different backgrounds - while Hong Kong-China was represented by HTC, which included a selection of players from different teams across the region.

The other eight participants were local teams.

"Korea and the Hokkaido Team were strong," commented Vanessa Mui, who played for HTC having represented Hong Kong-China at the IX Women's Baseball World Cup Group A in 2023. "Compared to the tense atmosphere of the World Cup group stage, the players could enjoy themselves and have fun in a relatively relaxed mode during the game. I had an enjoyable time in Jecheon playing games with teams from Korea, Japan and Taiwan."

Mui also commented on the development of women's baseball in Hong Kong. "Over the years, women's baseball in Hong Kong has been gaining in popularity, and the number of female players has steadily increased. Despite limited resources and infrastructure, the association has promoted the sport through various initiatives and successfully organised the Women's Baseball Asian Cup last year."

What could help women's baseball develop further? "Promoting youth-level programmes could be a way to increase interest and participation in women's baseball at a young age. I think introducing international youth events for girls (e.g. U-18, U-16 age brackets) would be one of the ways to sustain the growth of young players and enhance their engagement in this discipline."

The year 2024 is seen as a key year for women's international baseball. From 28 July to 3 August, the WBSC will award, for the first time since 2018, the Women's Baseball World Champion Title in Thunder Bay, Canada.

Mui says the six-time defending champions and World No. 1 Japan look like the team to beat. "Though Japan has been dominating women's baseball for several years with its strong skills and teamwork, other countries like the US, Canada and Chinese Taipei have been growing steadily. I think the competition in Thunder Bay will be fierce and worth watching," she said.

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