How baseball (with a twist) is bringing hope to Syrian refugees

On a brilliantly sunny day in Paris, two teams took to the courts. While the rest of the city was flooded with athletes and spectators for the Olympic Games, this wasn't part of the official program. This was a Baseball5 contest -- the World Baseball Softball Confederation's (WBSC) relatively new co-ed version of baseball designed to be played without the use of expensive equipment or need for a large field. This wasn't just any game, though: This one saw France's national Baseball5 squad take on a team of young refugees from the Azraq Refugee Camp in Jordan.

"It is a great honor to be here, and it is a golden opportunity to play with the French national team, one of the best teams in the world," 15-year-old Ahmed Alshehadat said. "We hope from this participation to express our feeling for humanity, and we want to present our thanks for all who supported us, especially the WBSC and the French Federation.”

The Azraq camp, located in central Jordan about 60 miles east of Amman, is home to over 40,000 refugees who fled the violence of the Syrian civil war. First opened in 2014, the camp consists of four "operational villages," with a hospital, health clinics, community centers and schools for the 20,000 children who call it home. While the most necessary day-to-day needs were being met, there wasn't much in the way of sports or recreation for the children growing up in the camp.

So, the WBSC -- working with World Taekwondo, the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation and with support from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees -- helped bring Baseball5 to the camp. Beyond simply offering an activity for the children to take part in, the goal was to also use sports to build community, promoting social inclusion and the integration of refugees into society.

Now, children go to school in the morning, excited with the knowledge that Baseball5 on one of two new fields awaits them in the afternoon.

"My current goal is to create a supportive and safe educational environment for the Azraq Team," Amjed Alatoom, coach at the Azraq camp and secretary general for the Jordan Baseball Softball Federation, wrote. "[I want to prepare and rehabilitate] these children by developing their hidden skills and abilities and alleviate their suffering in preparation of their future participation in upcoming local and international tournaments. Moreover, by preparing them to become good citizens [so] they will have a better opportunity in life for their future."

Inspired by games like Cuba's quatra esquina (four corners) and Venezuela's pelotica de goma (little rubber ball), Baseball5 was designed to lower the barrier to baseball for all participants. By simply swapping out a standard baseball for a rubber one, batters can now strike it with balled fist or open palm, allowing the fielders to chase after it without a glove. The field has shrunk, too, taking up the space of a basketball court. It emphasizes contact, defensive skill and speed -- there's no such thing as an over-the-fence home run -- as co-ed teams of five take on each other.

"We've tried to have a fast game," WBSC president Riccardo Fraccari told MLB.com over Zoom. "When you start to play and you put a kid in right field or left field, they see one ball every 10 minutes, so they're not attracted [to the sport]. We made the dimension of the field 21 meters, like a basketball court, for the reason that we can play everywhere."

For cramped cities, impoverished communities or simply those without enough players and available equipment, a baseball game is now available -- one whose rules and structure are very similar to those a group of kids on a playground may have created without even trying to.

"We tried in many ways to develop baseball at the youth level, for example in schools. Or we tried many different games like T-ball, but in the end, none of them had a great result," Fraccari said about efforts he took during his time as the president of the Italian Baseball Softball Federation. "As a European, I asked myself, 'Why is soccer so popular all over? You won't find one place where soccer -- even in poor country, etc. [isn't popular]!' The answer is easy: With two stones [and a ball], you can play."

Originally proposed in 2017 before the first contest was played the next year, the game has quickly grown in popularity, finding pockets of success where baseball hasn't been able to make the same inroads.

"Turkey is not a baseball country, so we are entering in a country where before there is no existing baseball/softball," Fraccari explained.

The sport has swelled with 83 countries playing the sport -- enough for the WBSC to establish a ranking system in 2023. Hong Kong grew from 12 teams to 61 in just two years while Japan is expected to field more than 1,000 teams next season after beginning with just 24 clubs in 2022. USA Baseball adopted Baseball5 as part of its program earlier this year, too.

Originally met with suspicion by some who argued you couldn't remove things like a bat from the sport, Baseball5's quick adoption by eager participants is proof that the WBSC's concept is working.

"One positive thing is that some kid that before was not going to baseball/softball, now at least they go to watch the game. They are young consumers of baseball/softball," Fraccari said. "This is important, but also you quickly increase the number that play baseball/softball immediately. Now, we have 90 countries that play. And can you imagine, in Africa, through the schools, we have 1,000 people playing baseball."

The impact has been great enough that the sport will be part of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games -- where the WBSC hopes the Azraq refugee camp will play. It would be similar to the refugee Olympic team that recently competed in Paris, but this would just be for Baseball5.

"The project is designed to provide more than just sports training," Alatoom wrote. "Team sport, in fact, provides mentorship, educational support, and other resources to help [players] integrate into their new communities and build a better future for themselves and their families. By participating in this project, refugee athletes will not only gain a sense of accomplishment and purpose, but also become ambassadors of hope and inspiration for others."

"After the first time that I went there," Fraccari said, "I return every year because this is something that completely touched me and is one of the most important projects I have in my life."