WBSC Americas, formerly known as Pan American Baseball Confederation (COPABE, Spanish: Confederación Panamericana de Béisbol, Portuguese: Confederação Pan-Americana de Beisebol), is the governing body of baseball and softball within the Americas.
History Talks of the need of a baseball confederation in the Americas sparked with the founding of the Confederation of European Baseball back in the 1950s, although it was not until 1984, during the World Cup played in Cuba, that 12 countries of the Americas finally voted in favor of a formation of a confederation.
The first ever Confederación Panamericana de Béisbol (COPABE) executive meeting was held in March 1985, and 11 countries participated in its first ever Congress on March 15. The Congress saw the election of Oswaldo Matias Flores (Cuba) as the first president of the organization.
On October 5, 1987, the first Pan American Championship was played (Cuba won the tournament). The day after the final game of the tournament was held, the Congress elected Edwin Zerpa Pizzorno (Venezuela) as the next president of the organization.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s COPABE concentrated on developing tournaments at the youth level all over the Americas.
Members Baseball Association National teams Founded Membership IOC memberNote ARG Argentina (M, W) 1960 Full ARU Aruba (M, W) 1950 BAH Bahamas (M, W) 1954 BOL Bolivia (M, W) BRA Brazil (M, W) 1990 IVB British Virgin Islands (M, W) CAN Canada (M, W) 1964 CHI Chile (M, W) 1954 COL Colombia (M, W) 1938 CRC Costa Rica (M, W) 1975 CUB Cuba (M, W) 1938 CUW Curaçao (M, W) 1934 Provisional Constituent country of the Netherlands. DOM Dominican Republic (M, W) 1966 Full ECU Ecuador (M, W) 1945 ESA El Salvador (M, W) GUA Guatemala (M, W) GUY Guyana (M, W) 2012 HAI Haiti (M, W) 2013 HON Honduras (M, W) JAM Jamaica (M, W) MEX Mexico (M, W) 1987 NCA Nicaragua (M, W) 1950 PAN Panama (M, W) 1944 PER Peru (M, W) 1926 PUR Puerto Rico (M, W) 1970 SXM Sint Maarten (M, W) Provisional TTO Trinidad and Tobago (M, W) Full USA United States (M, W) 1978 ISV United States Virgin Islands (M, W) VEN Venezuela (M, W) 1952
Softball Association National teams Founded Membership IOC memberNote ARG Argentina (M, W) 1960 Full ARU Aruba (M, W) BAH Bahamas (M, W) 1972 BIZ Belize (M, W) BOL Bolivia (M, W) BRA Brazil (M, W) IVB British Virgin Islands (M, W) 1952 CAN Canada (M, W) 1965 CAY Cayman Islands (M, W) CHI Chile (M, W) 1954 COL Colombia (M, W) 1968 CRC Costa Rica (M, W) 2011 CUB Cuba (M, W) 1980 CUW Curaçao (M, W) 1952 Provisional DOM Dominican Republic (M, W) 1966 Full ECU Ecuador (M, W) 2014 ESA El Salvador (M, W) 1980 GUA Guatemala (M, W) 1990 HAI Haiti (M, W) 2013 HON Honduras (M, W) JAM Jamaica (M, W) 2016 MEX Mexico (M, W) 1985 NCA Nicaragua (M, W) 2006 PAN Panama (M, W) 1965 PER Peru (M, W) 1981 PUR Puerto Rico (M, W) TCA Turks and Caicos Islands (M, W) Provisional Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom. USA United States (M, W) 1933 Full ISV United States Virgin Islands (M, W) URU Uruguay (M, W) VEN Venezuela (M, W)
WBSC World Rankings Baseball
Softball
Baseball5
Historical leaders Highest Ranked Americas member in the WBSC Rankings
Men's baseball
Women's baseball
Men's softball
Women's softball
Competitions
Baseball Men's U-23 Pan American Baseball Championship U-18 Pan American Baseball Championship U-15 Pan American Baseball Championship U-12 Pan American Baseball Championship U-10 Pan American Baseball Championship
Women's Pan American Women's Baseball Championship
Softball Men's Men's Softball Pan American Championship U-23 Men's Softball Pan American Championship U-18 Men's Softball Pan American Championship
Women's Women's Softball Pan American Championship U-18 Women's Softball Pan American Championship U-15 Women's Softball Pan American Championship
Baseball5 Baseball5 Pan American Championship
Current title holders Competition Year Host country Champions Title Runners-up Next edition DatesBaseballAmericas Baseball Cup Central American Baseball Cup 2026 Guatemala Caribbean Baseball Cup 2025 Bahamas South American Baseball Championship 2024 Peru U-23 Pan American Baseball Championship CaribbeanCentral and North America 2025 Panama South America Peru U-18 Pan American Baseball Championship 2024 Panama 2026 22-29 OctoberU-15 Pan American Baseball Championship Central and North America 2025 Mexico Caribbean Dominican Republic South America Venezuela U-12 Pan American Baseball Championship 2024 Panama 2026 20-27 NovemberU-10 Pan American Baseball Championship 2025 Panama - Azul - Blanco Pan American Women's Baseball Championship 2025 Venezuela SoftballMen's Softball Pan American Championship 2026 Colombia 1st U-23 Men's Softball Pan American Championship 2025 Argentina U-18 Men's Softball Pan American Championship 2025 Argentina 1st Women's Softball Pan American Championship 2025 Colombia 1st U-18 Women's Softball Pan American Championship 2024 Colombia 1st U-15 Women's Softball Pan American Championship 2025 Mexico 2nd Baseball5Baseball5 Pan American Championship 2024 Venezuela 1st 2026 14-17 OctoberYouth Baseball5 Pan American Championship 2026 14-17 October
See also World Baseball Softball Confederation Baseball at the Central American and Caribbean Games Baseball at the Pan American Games Baseball at the 2010 South American Games 2008 Copa América (baseball)
Latin American Series Caribbean Series South American Baseball Championship
Notes
References
External links
Pan American Baseball Confederation website (on WorldNews (WN) Network domain)