2024 in Review: WBSC Legacy Club continues to transform lives during first full year
In its first full year in action, the WBSC Legacy Club has continued to have a transformative impact on the lives of young athletes from across the world.
Launched in 2023 on International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, 6 April 2024 marked the first anniversary of the Legacy Club, which continues to use Baseball/Softball as a tool to help bridge cultural gaps and enhance standards of education, health and economic and social development globally.
Baseball5 continues to have a huge impact on the Azraq Refugee Camp in Jordan, where more than 100 young adults and children play the sport each year, under the guidance of Head Coach Amjad Alatoom.
In February, Baseball5 assistant coach Reem Hadroos became the first Azraq Refugee Camp resident licensed by the WBSC as a Baseball5 coach and game official. Hadroos, 18, has two brothers on the team and turned to coaching as she will be too old to represent the Baseball5 Refugee Team at the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) Dakar 2026.
Alongside their weekly training sessions, the Baseball5 athletes were able to take part in the second edition of the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation Hope and Dreams Sports Festival in the Azraq Camp in May.
This formed part of the team’s training for the highlight of 2024, the trip to Paris during the Olympic Games Paris 2024. From 8-12 August, a team of 10 young athletes and two coaches from the Azraq Camp travelled to the French capital to immerse themselves in the Olympic spirit and play against France at Club France in Parc de le Villette.
President Riccardo Fraccari said: “The WBSC is very proud of our project, and we want to give all the players the possibility to grow and to dream in the future. We must thank the French Baseball Softball Federation and the French National Olympic Committee for their hospitality and support for this trip, without whom it would not have been possible.”
The Legacy Club has also expanded its offerings by launching a new project in Kenya at the Kakuma Refugee Camp and Kalobeyei integrated settlement in coordination with the African Higher Education in Emergencies Network (AHEEN), beginning in August.
Run in conjunction with Olympic Solidarity, Under-18s in the camps will be able to take part in regular Baseball5 activities, which will be run by Head Coach Denis Mitei, who was one of four coaches able to take part in a coaching clinic in Nairobi and has experience dealing with displaced young people during his teaching career. He will be assisted by two refugee assistant coaches.
In September, the WBSC Legacy Club was also able to announce 365 HA HA HOSPITAL as its first Diamond Partner. The South Korean hospital, based in the Gangseo-gu ward of Busan, will support the Club with funding and other activities.
With plans to have a team from the Azraq Camp compete in the Baseball5 competition at the YOG Dakar 2026 as part of the Olympic Refugee Team, 2025 will see the Legacy Club continue to support its activities there and expand its reach in Kenya and further afield.