IBAF Baseball News, Issue No. 6

by IBAF, www.ibaf.org

New Year and Review 2010 President Fraccari

With January Upon us and the 2011 Tournament schedule rapidly approaching, the IBAF has started the New Year with a review of 2010 and the first full year of President Fraccari and his Executives time in office. The document outlines a number of topics and emphasizes the immense job necessary for the overhaul and improving the relevance of the IBAF as a player in international sports. The full review can be found on IBAF.org at the following link.

Upcoming Events

President Fraccari will travel to New York to extend discussions with Major League Baseball. The discussions are an integral part of the ongoing relationship between the IBAF and professional baseball, and will also form a major discussion point in the upcoming IBAF executive at the end of January.

The IBAF and the IOC will meet on the 26th of January in Lausanne,Switzerland with IBAF President Riccardo Fraccari, Secretary General Israel Roldan, 3rd Vice President Antonio Castro, IBAF Treasurer Rene Laforce and the Executive Director Roberto Fabbricini all expected to attend. The meetings will provide the platform for President Fraccari to introduce his new IBAF and highlight the already accomplished restructuring of the organization, the improved relationship with global professional baseball and furture goals of the organization and how they relate to the Olympic movement.

The IBAF Executive will meet for the first trimester of 2011 in Havana, Cuba, the home of IBAF 3rd Vice President Antonio Castro. The meeting will set the stage for an introduction of the 2011 agenda that will include an IBAF presence at Sport Accord International Convention, London in early April, 2011 as well as the 16 and Under IBAF World Youth Championship in Mexico and 12 and Under to be held in Chinese Taipei later in the year.

The Executive is also expected to discuss the possibility of 2011 IBAF Baseball World Cup. Bids have been lodged from Panama and Venezuela with the tournament possibly to be held later in the year. The tournament has been discussed at length in previous executives and will be decided upon in Havana. A full report will be available at the completion of the meetings.

Past Events

The South Asia Region, a region within the Baseball Federation of Asia and containing Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal and Pakistan recently held sub region elections for the SAARC Baseball Federation. Mr Javed Shaukat of Pakistan was elected President with Mr Shah Khawar elected as Secretary General. The region is a very promising developmental region for the game of baseball, especially considering the nations involved have a demonstrated ability with bat and ball sports and an intense desire to develop the game of baseball.

Tournaments

‘Asia Insurance Phoenix Cup 2011’ Hong Kong International Women’s Baseball Tournament

The International Women’s baseball scene will commence in 2011 with the annual Hong Kong International Women’s Baseball Tournament, expected to include 7 teams with players from the around the globe, the tournament will be held from the 21st of January to the 24th of January. Updates will be found on IBAF.org

IBAF Media

Lausanne – The IBAF Website will undergo an overhaul in the first part of 2011 to improve the ability of the IBAF to utilize the tool as an information repository for the organization and as a hub for the global game of baseball. The overhaul also includes the hiring of a full time IBAF webmaster to allow the organization a dedicated web management system.