Nigeria gets first invitation to Baseball World Cup

Nigeria will be participating at the event for the first time.

Nigeria will be making a debut appearance at the U-12 Baseball Championship scheduled to take place in Taipei, China from July 20 to 28, 2013, having received an invitation from the world governing body, the International Baseball Federation, IBAF.

In extending the invitation to Nigeria, IBAF acknowledged the developmental programme which Nigeria has embarked upon in recent years, adding that embracing the international scene will no doubt help expedite the development of the sports in the country.

IBAF has also invited 12 other countries from other parts of the world to take part in this competition.

Meanwhile, the process of getting the best players to represent Nigeria at the world tournament has started with the camping starting February 19 in Ibadan.

Best players have seen selected from teams in different from every parts of the country with Oyo state government playing a pivotal role in the national camping event. The camp is to run for 8 days.

An American Coach has been appointed as the Technical Adviser for the national team, and he is scheduled to be in Nigeria soon to start working on the team, officials say.

Commenting on the journey so far, the secretary of Nigeria Baseball and softball Federation NBSF, Kehinde Laniyan, praised the efforts of the international body in making sure that the game of baseball grows in Nigeria.

He said the nation’s invitation among the 12 participating countries was a clear indication that the national body is leaving no stone unturned in making sure that it takes the game to the nooks and crannies of this country.

“We felt fulfilled when we got the invitation. It shows that somebody somewhere is closely following what we are doing here,” he said.

Nigeria is also playing host to international headquarters of African Baseball and softball Association, ABSA, with Nigeria born Ishola Williams, a retired general being the president.