Baseball is world-renowned as an American sport and just by hearing its name, you probably hear the umpire saying “Play ball!” at the start of a game. However, baseball is not an American only sport and even European countries join and have some fun.

The game was originally founded in New York during the 1800s and since then, it’s following has grown exponentially. In most parts of the world, there are baseball teams and although they aren’t playing in the major league, they sure enjoy the gameplay. It is very beneficial for cardiovascular health and improves hand-eye coordination, amongst other facts about baseball.

What can you possibly know about the European Baseball Championship? Here are 5 facts about the European Baseball Championship.

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When does it take place?

The European Baseball championship takes place once every two years and the last time it took place was in September 2019. The international tournament goes on for about a week and then ends. For the players, that week is probably one of the longest because of the high stakes involved in this tournament.

While it is all pure joy and entertainment to others, the date of this tournament is very important to the participants. That is because they get to represent the colors of their flag and that is an important responsibility.
It is more than just a date to them, but it is a milestone to reach that date and come out on top. The next European Baseball Championship will be in 2021 and that is when the European national teams will get to prove their worth.

When was it first played?

The European Baseball championship was conceptualized by the Confederation of European Baseball. The history of the start of this tournament started in 1954 just a year after the confederation was established.
Confederation of European Baseball started with only 5 countries that were members and most probably, there were not many countries that partook in the tournament.

The first game was hosted in Belgium and the team that won that game was Italy. The European Baseball Championship has been running successfully ever since and there have been many developments over the years. What are those developments?

How has it evolved?

Talking about the history of the European Baseball Championship, there are many subsets of this tournament that have arisen. For example, there is now a European Baseball Tournament for Women and there are various age groups that have been formed.

In the year of 1974, the first-ever European Baseball championship for under 18s was formed. That meant minors were going to play the game. Now, as we see, various minors play in the bigger leagues now.

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Countries involved

There is quite some history behind the members of the Confederation of European Baseball allowed to play in the tournament. When it was first established, it only had five countries. Right now, it has 38 members. Most of the countries joined the federation gradually and not all at once. This shows steady growth that proves reliable alliance with it.

The countries that established it are France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, and Italy) the countries that later joined is the Netherlands in 1956. In 1957, two more countries joined, Sweden and the Netherlands. In the 90s, the members were already up to 33.

Some countries that joined the federation, Israel and Tunisia, are not European. Israel joined the Confederation of European Baseball in 1995 and Tunisia was a member from 1952 to 1962 it has become a member ever since.

Future prospects

The European Baseball Championship is aiming to be a pre-qualifier for the 2020 Olympics. The tournament has been partaking as the qualifier for the 2008 Olympics and as a pre-qualifier for the 2004 Olympics.
As the Women’s tournament has already begun, the future for women in this tournament looks bright as we can expect more of these tournaments in the future. The collaboration with the Olympics, also shows that there is high potential in this tournament when given the right direction and oversight.

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The bottom line

Baseball is a great sport and the empowerment that has been brought by the Confederation of European Baseball has carved a great path for the participants. Through the European Baseball Championship, women have been empowered by the tournament. The introduction of minors that play in this tournament has also encouraged young ones to seek a future in sports.

The European Baseball Championship has come a long way and at its current pace, it is going to go far. There are various huge successes that were brought up by this tournament. Until 2021, the baseball teams go back to their regular schedules preparing for the next one.

Author Bio:

Bobbi Sanchez works for an online academic writing service as a writer, editor and proofreader in area of business management, finance and economics. He has been a national level sportsperson and it’s his love for the games that he runs a successful sports blog and a YouTube channel. In his free time, he plays tennis and cricket, practices yoga and reads fiction.