16 October 2023
Baseball's Olympic inclusion at LA28 means big things for national program
It’s official: Baseball is back in the Olympic games.
The International Olympic Committee confirmed Monday that Baseball & Softball – along with Flag Football, Squash, Cricket and Lacrosse – will be included on the roster of sports for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
Baseball Australia Chief Executive Officer Glenn Williams – a two-time Olympian and 2004 Olympic Silver Medalist – says he believes this could have major implications for the sport in Australia.
“We’re obviously excited,” says Williams. “We’ve been working under an assumption that baseball will be included but there was still an element of uncertainty.
“It makes planning for our next tournament cycle real and tangible. All the hypothetical plans are gone – they are now concrete.”
Inclusion in the Olympics not only means increased visibility for the sport, but a chance for the national program to deliver against a lofty national high-performance strategy set by Baseball Australia.
Baseball had a 12-year hiatus from the Olympics after it appeared in the 2008 Beijing Games. It was in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games but Australia was unable to get to their qualifiers due to pandemic travel restrictions. It is not on the bill for next year’s games in Paris.
“Team Australia is a tournament team,” says national team head coach David Nilsson. “Our objective is to be the best tournament team in the world.”
Tournament play – like what would happen at the Olympics – is much different than your traditional baseball season format where teams can play upwards of 162 games in a season. It happens fast, with a series of critical elimination games and on-off showdowns against baseball superpowers.
The news comes exactly one month before the Australian Baseball League, the competition where the best Aussies play, is set to begin.
“We may not have the overall depth of other baseball super powers, but we have a lot of good players who battle hard and understand that tournament baseball is different,” says Williams. “It’s about being prepared, having a strategy, and being able to execute it on the day.”
Australia’s goal of being the “best tournament team” in the world isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds. There’s a track record of success.
The senior men’s squad is coming off a historic quarter final appearance at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, a sixth place showing at the 2019 Premier 12 (World Championship), and a Super Round finish at the 2022 U23 World Cup.
In that stretch, Australia has toppled traditional baseball powerhouses like South Korea, the United States and Canada. They lost their quarterfinal World Baseball Classic game vs Cuba by just one run.
There’s an Olympic silver medal in 2004 and an Intercontinental Cup in 1999 in Australia’s sneaky history of success on the world stage.
“At the highest level, the Team Australia program is not about participation – it is about winning,” says Nilsson. “Every event we go to we have to have that in mind.”
Australia had over 30 players play professional baseball in the United States in 2023. This includes two major leaguers – MLB All-Star Liam Hendricks and 22-year-old rookie sensation Curtis Mead.
There are also 100+ players in the USA college system.
That number is expected to grow in the coming months, with the International Signing period opening and college recruitment in full swing.
Travis Bazanna, a NSW standout at Oregon State, could become the first Australian selected in the first round of the 2024 MLB Draft in 2024.
Williams says Australia has been achieving goals against their high performance pathways strategy set in 2020, including a relationship with the Australian Institute for Sport (AIS).
“The AIS has supported us, knowing that baseball in 2028 was always a prospect,” says Williams. “We’ve been delivering against the strategies. We’re excited to keep working with the AIS and to enhance our relationship to see if we can make our ambitious goals a reality.”
The visibility of an Olympic Games can do wonders for the sport, too. It’s a chance for Baseball to be included in the mainstream sports and media discussion.
It also puts baseball in the conversation for inclusion at the 2032 Olympic games on home soil in Brisbane.
The allure of playing in such a prestigious event keeps high performance players engaged in the game for a little bit longer, says Williams.
“As a former athlete who played in two Olympic games, I’m grateful for the experience,” he says. “I was in a similar boat where I tried to go for a third at the 2008 Beijing Games. It kept me and some of the veteran guys in the game longer trying to push for that goal.”
The inclusion of baseball in the Olympics cements a busy tournament schedule for the next five years.
Australia is expected to play in the 2023 Asian Professional Baseball Championships, the 2024 Premier12, the 2024 U23 World Cup, the 2026 World Baseball Classic, and now seek qualification for the 2028 Olympic games.
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