International Women’s Baseball Returns to Phoenix

2006 marks the 2nd World Cup of Women’s Baseball, to be played in Taipei, Taiwan this Aug. 1st - 6th. Team USA won the gold in the 2004 World Cup, held in Edmonton, AB.

Phoenix will host 1 of the 3 national tryouts the weekend of June 17th & 18th. Women ballplayers (age 16 and over) from all over the country will converge on Municipal Stadium in an attempt to become invited to the final selection process. Additional tryouts will be in Jupiter, Florida and Elizabethtown, NJ. Those selected will attend the final selection tryouts, also to be held at Municipal Stadium July 22nd-28th. An exhibition game between Team Canada & Team USA has tentatively been scheduled on Wednesday, July 26th.

“This is an exciting time for women’s baseball,” said Richard Hopkins, president & general manager of the Arizona Cactus Wrens Women’s Baseball Club, Arizona’s original & only all-women’s baseball team,“ & for the Phoenix area. This is a great opportunity for girls & women in our area to get involved.”

He added, “In order for baseball to return to the Olympics, women’s & girls baseball must advance in the US. It’s a shame that baseball is America’s game, but we lag far behind most of the rest of the world in women’s & girls participation.” He attended the 1st World Cup in Edmonton & plans on attending the 2006 games in Taipei.

The Cactus Wrens are currently looking for both women & girl’s who want to play baseball. Girls 13 & under are sought for a traveling team, which includes the national tournament at Disneyworld in October. Players 14 & over are sought for the women’s team.

The Cactus Wrens hope to resurrect their local league that played in the mid-90’s with several teams. Phoenix also had a team in the defunct women’s professional baseball league in 1997 & 1998. Hopkins has worked tirelessly since 1994 promoting women’s & girls baseball across the world. The Cactus Wrens played in the very 1st international women’s baseball games in 1997, with 5 US teams & 2 Australian teams in the field in Southern California. In 2002 he was selected as 1 of 2 coaches from the USA to participate in the National Girls-N-Sports Day festivities at Disneyworld, introducing baseball to the event for the 1st time, & sat on the founding committee meeting at the AAU organizing women’s & girls baseball as an official sport. In 2004 he was the only coach from the US to participate in the inaugural girls & women’s baseball instructional clinic in Aberdeen, Maryland.

Hopkins has also pitched the idea of Phoenix hosting the 2008 World Cup at Chase Field, once to the Governor in 2004 & to the Arizona Baseball & Softball Commission this year. “I’m still waiting to hear back from either of them,” he said, adding “the economic benefit to the city & state would be great. Just think, a few thousand players, families, & fans visiting Phoenix in July or August.”