The second OlympAfrica bi-annual network meeting, which opened in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on May 9, is due to conclude today.

As part of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2021, the WBSC attended the meeting to hold a new Baseball5 course for the directors of the OlympAfrica centres.

One session was dedicated to French-speaking countries and a second was reserved for the English-speaking nations.

The courses include classroom activity and a field demonstration of rules and training drills.

The final 90 minutes of the day are dedicated to friendly games between the participants.

The first educational session for OlympAfrica Centres was held in March 2022 for the seven Centres which first decided to develop the five-on-five version of the sport. 

These are Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria and Zambia.

Cape Coast in Ghana will be hosting the first-ever Baseball5 Youth African Championship, a qualifying tournament to the inaugural WBSC Baseball5 Youth World Cup.

The OlympAfrica Foundation, chaired by Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa President Mustapha Berraf, aims to strengthen the Olympic Movement's impact on the education and life of African youth.

It runs 43 centres all over the continent.

Baseball5 takes baseball and softball to previously inaccessible areas as only a rubber ball is needed to play.

This means that there is no need to go to a baseball or softball field - in fact any area can be utilised.

No pitcher or bats are needed as hitting is done by hand.