The Royal Belgian Baseball and Softball Federation ( nl, Koninklijke Belgische Base en Softball Federatie; french: Fédération Royale Belge de Base et Softball) is the

national governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ge ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

and

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. The association was established in 1975. The Royal Belgian Baseball and Softball Federation is responsible for the national baseball team, the men's national softball team, the women's national softball team and overseeing the two national leagues: the Flemish League and the Walloon League.

History

Baseball was introduced in Belgium in the 1920s when American and Japanese sailors played the sport on the

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

docks. Baseball was rapidly spread amongst locals and the first league, the Flemish League, was established in the 1930s. On April 1953, Belgium was one of the founding members of the

Confederation of European Baseball The World Baseball Softball Confederation Europe, known as WBSC Europe, was established on February 10th, 2018 during a Congress of the Confederation of European Baseball and the European Softball Federation in Val d’Europe, France. the establi ...

(now

WBSC Europe The World Baseball Softball Confederation Europe, known as WBSC Europe, was established on February 10th, 2018 during a Congress of the Confederation of European Baseball and the European Softball Federation in Val d’Europe, France. the establi ...

), alongside France, Italy, Spain and West Germany. Delegates from each one of the countries met in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and established the Fédération Européenne de Baseball (European Baseball Federation). The Royal Belgian Baseball and Softball Federation was established in 1975. In 1976, the KBBSF/FRBBS was one of the founding members of the

European Softball Federation The European Softball Federation (Fédération Européenne Softball, ESF), was the governing body of softball within Europe from 1976 until 2018, when it merged with the Confederation of European Baseball into WBSC Europe. The ESF was founded in 1 ...

, the others being France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and West Germany. Today, the KBBSF/FRBBS has 4100 members, over 2900 active players and 45 clubs.

Teams

The Royal Belgian Baseball and Softball Federation oversees the development of the following national baseball and softball teams: ;Baseball * Belgium national baseball team * Belgium national under-23 baseball team * Belgium national under-18 baseball team * Belgium national under-15 baseball team * Belgium national under-12 baseball team ;Softball * Belgium men's national softball team * Belgium women's national softball team * Belgium women's national under-22 baseball team * Belgium women's national under-18 baseball team * Belgium women's national under-15 baseball team

References

{{WBSC Europe associations 1975 establishments in Belgium

Baseball in Belgium Sports organizations established in 1975 Softball organizations

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

Softball in Belgium