USA Baseball is the national governing body for organized baseball in the United States, and is a member of the United States Olympic Committee and the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The organization selects and trains the World Baseball Classic, Olympic, Premier12, and Pan American Games teams ; the USA Baseball collegiate national team; the USA Baseball 18U, 15U, and 12U national teams; and the USA Baseball women's national team, all of which participate in various international competitions each year. In addition, USA Baseball selects players for the 14U, 16U, and 17U national team-development programs. The organization is responsible for the continued proliferation and health of the sport, and leads a number of amateur initiatives through its Sport Development department, including Play Ball and Pitch Smart. USA Baseball also presents the Golden Spikes Award annually to the top amateur baseball player in the country and is responsible for creating the USABat standard.
The International Baseball Federation is the former worldwide governing body recognized by the International Olympic Committee as overseeing, deciding and executing the policy of the sport of baseball. The IBAF has since become the international baseball "Division" of the World Baseball Softball Confederation, the officially recognized world governing body for baseball. One of its principal responsibilities under the WBSC umbrella is to organize, standardize and sanction international competitions, using the WBSC name, among baseball's 124 national governing bodies through its various tournaments to determine a world champion and calculate world rankings for both men's and women's baseball. Prior to the establishment of the WBSC, which has since superseded its authority, the IBAF had been the lone entity that can assign the title of "world champion" to any baseball team delegated to represent a nation. Its offices are housed within the WBSC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland—the Olympic Capital.
The most popular sport in Mexico currently is association football followed by boxing. However, there are regional variations: for example, baseball is the most popular sport in the northwest and the southeast of the country. Basketball, American football and bull riding are also popular. Other sports followed by Mexicans are ice hockey, mixed martial arts, motor racing, taekwondo, and cycling. The tradition of bullfighting remains strong in Mexico.
The Japan national baseball team, also known as Samurai Japan (侍ジャパン), is the national team representing Japan in international baseball competitions. It won the World Baseball Classic in 2006, 2009, and 2023 as well as WBSC Premier12 in 2019. The team is currently ranked 1st in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation.
The United States national baseball team, also known as Team USA represents the United States in international-level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 2nd in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The United States has won many international tournaments, many of which are now discontinued. Most notably the team won the Olympic baseball tournament in 2000, and the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in 2017.
Maria Paula Gonçalves da Silva, nicknamed "Magic Paula", is a retired Brazilian women's basketball player. She is considered one of the greatest players in her country, along with Hortência Marcari and Janeth Arcain. For Brazil women's national basketball team, Paula is the second biggest scorer with 723 points and holds the record for caps with 45 games, being in two Olympic Games and six World Championships.
The Brazil national baseball team is the national baseball team of Brazil. The team represents Brazil in international competitions. The team is currently ranked 18th in the world.
Cuba competed at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, from July 10 to 26, 2015.
Nicaragua competed in the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada from July 10-26, 2015.
The Dominican Republic competed in the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from July 10 to 26, 2015. The country had 250 athletes in 26 sports.
Puerto Rico competed in the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada, from July 10 to 26, 2015. Unlike the 2011 Pan American games, Puerto Rico did not perform well, earning only 1 gold and silver each, and 13 bronze medals.
The United States competed at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada, from July 10 to 26, 2015.
Cuba competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's twentieth appearance at the Summer Olympics. The Cuban team consisted of 124 athletes, 89 men and 35 women, across eighteen sports.
Baseball competitions at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto was held from July 11 to 26 at the Pan Am Ball Park, in Ajax, Ontario.
The women's handball tournament at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada was held at the Exhibition Centre from July 16 to 24.
Osleni Guerrero Velazco is a Cuban badminton player. He is the first Cuban badminton player to win a medal in the Pan American Games. Guerrero also competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Softball competitions at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru are scheduled to be held from July 25 to August 10. The venue for the competition is the softball stadium located at the Villa María del Triunfo cluster. A total of six men's and six women's teams competed in each tournament. This means a total of 180 athletes are scheduled to compete.
Baseball at the 2019 Pan American Games was held from July 27 to August 4. The venue for the competition was the baseball stadium located at the Villa María del Triunfo cluster. The tournament was part of the 2019 edition of the Pan American Games, hosted by Lima, Peru.
Cuba competed in the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru from July 26 to August 11, 2019.
Cuba competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Cuban delegation was their smallest since 1964, which coincidentally was also in Tokyo. It was the nation's twenty-first appearance at the Summer Olympics. Cuba improved on its 2016 result, by winning 7 gold and 15 total medals after 5 and 11 in Rio.
