The World Baseball Softball Confederation has decided to take action on the occasion of April 6, the “International Day of Sport for Development and Peace".

Have you ever traveled with softball? How many friends have you made abroad thanks to softball? Or let’s go even further – how many of all of your friends are softball-related? Do you know your best friend from softball? Everyone from the European Softball family knows, that softball is a sport of friendship on first place. So there’s nothing easier than just realizing these things and taking part in the Peace and Sport movement.


Representatives of Russian and Ukrainian Softball Federations enjoying Gala dinner together at the ESF / CEB Congress

Riccardo Fraccari, WBSC President, said: “The World Baseball Softball Confederation is committed to honor the role that sport in general, and Baseball Softball in particular, plays in society. That is why we invite you and your member federations to mobilize, join forces and bring to light projects and events related to peace and development through sport.”

There are two (2) different ways to participate in the April6 celebration:

1. Organizing an event: You can either choose an existing event in your calendar or create a new one, between 10 March and 10 April 2017, and name it accordingly (i.e. “Friendship Cup”, “Peace through Sport Trophee”, “Make a friend cup”, “Team Spirit Cup” etc). The event can involve both children and adults and shall include a moment in which the role of sport as a tool for peace is considered. You will find some more guidelines and examples of events organized by other sport actors around the world on the April6 platform (www.april6.org). In three years, more than 840 projects, held across 180 countries on 5 continents were registered on the www.april6.org platform. As for previous editions, Peace and Sport will present to the IOC and the UN a report with all the events that were organized and registered to celebrate April6 around the world. That is why we strongly encourage you to register the events that you and your members will organize, so that the IOC and the UN, as well as the general public, will acknowledge the power of Baseball Softball on social development and Peace.

2. Taking a #whitecard picture: You can support the “Peace through Sport” movement by taking a picture while holding a white card and by posting it on your social media and website. A picture with a white card represents a symbolic action, in reference to the red card, which signifies the most serious offense that a sports player can commit. The color white symbolizes instead purity and peace and is therefore used to represent positivity and constructiveness in sport. 

On the April6 platform (www.april6.org) you will be able to find guidelines on the correct hashtags to use on social media and a gallery with all the #whitecard pictures taken during the previous editions of International Day for Sport and Development and Peace.

-Helena Novotna-