First-ever WBSC Blind Baseball International Cup set to open in Beek, Netherlands

The WBSC Blind Baseball International Cup is set to open on the fields of HSV Cheetahs in Beek, Netherlands, on Saturday, 20 August.

Six National Teams will participate in the first Blind Baseball event sanctioned by the WBSC:

Group A: Netherlands, Germany, USA
Group B: France, Italy, Great Britain

The United States were the first to arrive in Beek. They already played a warm-up game with the Netherlands.

Italy, Germany, France, and Great Britain arrived today. All the delegations will attend the official dinner at the field.

This version of Blind Baseball, based on sound coming from the ball, derives from an idea by the late Alfredo Meli, a former Italian Baseball League player and manager. Meli was one of the founders of the Italian Association Baseball for the Blind (AIBxC, a WBSC Associate Member) in the early 1990s.

The Italian Baseball and Softball Federation (FIBS) runs an 11-team league (LIBCI).

AIBxC and the WBSC Paralympic Commission introduced Blind Baseball to the Netherlands in October 2021.