The 2024 WBSC Women’s World Cup is on the horizon, and the six participating teams held a press conference on July 27 to discuss the tournament. The tournament opened in Thunder Bay, Canada, on Sunday, July 28. The United States, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Venezuela, and Mexico will be the countries participating.
The tournament was founded 20 years ago, and women’s softball and baseball have been growing in popularity since then. Still, USA manager Veronica Alvarez believes “…we have to take advantage of every opportunity to develop women’s baseball further.” Alvarez, the MLB ambassador for women in baseball, leads the USA team in quest for their third title in the event and first since 2006.
This is the tenth edition of the Women’s World Cup, which comes after the 2020 tournament in Mexico was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In what was a setback to women’s baseball, participating countries have responded to rebuild support. The USA returned to international women’s baseball thanks to a series against Canada.
Canadian manager Anthony Pluta said, “We are doing a great job in Canada,” and stated that many players on the National team play in a league in the off-season to play together.
Mexico captain Dani Leal, Chinese Taipei captain Shi Mei Shu, and Canada captain Sena Catterall discussed the importance of growing the game and breaking boundaries for the next generation of women ballplayers. “We have the opportunity to show girls that if they play baseball, there’s a future,” Catterall said. Many team captains and coaches focused on boosting women’s baseball development, not just ushering girls automatically to softball.
With messages to inspire the next generation of women’s baseball, these six teams will compete for the championship in the WBSC Women’s World Cup. The tournament is on its third day and will conclude on August 3, with the title game taking place at Port Arthur Stadium.
(Photo Credit: WBSC.org)
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