Baseball in Russia: on the way to the 2028 Olympics

Baseball in Russia is not as new as it might seem. It appeared in the USSR back in the early 1930s, when workers and engineers from the United States who fled the Great Depression moved to communist construction sites. The Soviet government became interested in the game, which was akin to the Russian lapta, and soon baseball teams appeared in Moscow, Petrozavodsk, Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod), Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) and Yerevan. In 1934, in the metropolitan park named after Gorky hosted an exhibition match between American diplomats and journalists, which was attended by the first U.S. Ambassador to the USSR, William Bullitt.

A new wave of interest in baseball in the Soviet Union occurred in the second half of the 1980s, when the sport began to gradually return to the Olympic program. On August 13, 1987, the Federation of Baseball, Softball and Russian Lapta of the USSR was formed. A year later, it joined the International Baseball Federation (IBAF), and in 1989 the first championship was held, in which 24 teams representing 19 cities from eight Union republics took part. The winner was SKA-29 from Balashikha. Since 1992, the competitions have been held under the auspices of the Federation of Baseball, Softball and Russian Lapta of Russia, which 10 years later split into three separate federations. To date, nine teams from Moscow, St. Petersburg and Balashikha are participating in the national baseball championship.

The Russian national team twice, in 1997 and 1999, stopped one step away from winning prizes at the European Championship, finishing fourth. And in 2001, at the European Championships in Germany, she won silver medals. "Soviet baseball set the bar for victories and achievements in many ways, but it was Russian baseball players who took the hitherto unconquered height," says Dmitry Kiselyov, president of the Russian Baseball Federation. In the world Championship, Russian baseball players showed their best results in 2001 and 2003 (13th place).

And although Russians have not won such records since then, over the past 20 years, junior and junior teams have repeatedly won European championships, Kiselyov continues. "In 2017, the student national team was invited to participate in the World University Games, and in September 2020, the men's national team won gold at the prestigious Prague Week baseball tournament. And this is in the midst of a pandemic," emphasizes the honored coach of Russia.

According to him, a new page in the history of Russian baseball was turned in 2018, when the federation approved the "Road to Los Angeles" program. Her goal is for the Russian national team to participate in the 2028 Olympic Games. "Through the efforts of patrons, the RusStar Arena was built in Filevsky Park in Moscow, the best baseball cluster in Eastern Europe, equipped with the latest technology. It has become the training base for the Russian national team to achieve the important task of reaching Group A of the 2021 European Championship," says Dmitry Kiselyov. Despite a five-year break (the last time the Russians took part in the European championship was in 2016), the team coped with this task, taking 10th place in Italy.

Over the past two years, Russian baseball has focused on developing its potential within the country. "We are actively expanding the geography of baseball in Russia," explains Dmitry Kiselyov. – Now the federation unites 20 regional members, and we do not stop there. We understand how valuable local team support is in difficult times for Russian sports, so we continue to provide grants to regional baseball federations, purchase uniforms and equipment, and co-finance regional tournaments."

Nikita Monakhov, the captain of the Russian national baseball team, is confident that Russians can easily get to the 2028 Games. To do this, we need to attract more young and talented athletes to the section, as well as generally pay attention to the popularization of this sport, he continues: "As players of the national team, we have already passed the selection stage for the Olympic Games. And, in fact, there is nothing supernatural here. Yes, we were up against competitive, capable teams that are hard to win against, but we showed class and played on equal terms. Therefore, nothing is impossible. The main thing is to create the necessary conditions, work and achieve the goal."

According to Dmitry Kiselyov, the emergence of a new sports discipline in 2021, baseball–5, has helped to introduce more fans to baseball. This is a simplified version of the classic game, which does not require a special field and inventory. "Baseball itself is a very democratic sport. Since the game requires accurate shooting, strong hitting, and fast running, the baseball team brings together a wide variety of guys, and more recently, girls have been officially playing it. Tall, squat, thin, dense – there is a place for everyone. Baseball-5 complements these qualities with even greater dynamism and accessibility: you can play in the gym, even on the street, with only a rubber ball and your palm from the inventory," explains the honored coach of Russia. According to him, the discipline has already taken root among youth and students, and All-Russian university competitions are held annually.

Ksenia Koroleva, the head of the Olympia Cup All-Star international youth tournament, agrees that Baseball-5 helps to popularize this sport in Russia. "No special devices are required – just a ball. Therefore, such a section can be opened at any school or university, and a child of any age and gender can master this type of baseball," she adds. According to Koroleva, this allows us to create a "funnel of potential athletes" and an influx of new promising players to professional baseball clubs who understand that "without constant updating and rotation of young players with high motivation, it is very difficult to prepare a high-quality team."

"At the moment, the cycle of preparation of national teams for participation in the Olympic Games, where baseball will be presented, is beginning. In order for the national team to qualify for the competition and adequately present our flag on the international stage, it is necessary to combine the efforts of the federation, the coaching staff of the clubs, interested organizations and other parties," emphasizes Ksenia Koroleva. According to her, the impetus for the development of domestic baseball is given by the support of private investors, a vivid example of which has been the Olympia Cup "All Stars" tournament for three years, which has been held with the support of the international engineering CASE-IN championship: "This is the only tournament in Russia in which national teams are formed using the best athletes' draft procedure".

In the near future, the organizers plan to expand its geography by inviting baseball players from the BRICS, SCO and other friendly countries, Koroleva continues. With the Olympia Cup, we want to demonstrate once again that there is no place for politics in sports, especially children's sports," she says. "We are also drawing attention to baseball from the point of view of infrastructure development, the construction of new stadiums and indoor playgrounds at universities, and we are looking towards the southern regions where competitions can be held all year round."

Nikita Monakhov believes that the Russian baseball school cannot do without international experience. "The guys are engaged, their eyes are burning, they want to develop and train. You can't even get someone out of the training process: they come earlier and leave later than others. In order for these athletes to form a high-quality backbone of the national team in the future, we need games at the international level. After all, matches at regional championships and All-Russian tournaments differ in level from international competitions. Guys should compare their skills with the strongest players, in competition with whom they will understand their strengths and weaknesses," he says.

Monakhov also notes the importance of continuity and mentoring in Russian baseball. According to him, "charged" coaches are, as a rule, the players of the Russian national team, who at one time studied in foreign schools, went to international competitions and Universiades, and also received advice from top specialists, helping a new generation of athletes "to reach a qualitatively new level and good competitive positions."

"It is extremely important for me to preserve the potential of the Russian national team players, especially our sports reserve, whose representatives have not attended international matches for several years, first because of pandemic restrictions, then because of sanctions suspensions," says Dmitry Kiselyov. – Starting in 2022, we are filling the baseball calendar with All-Russian competitions, extending the championship and the Cup of Russia. But, being both a player, a coach, and a functionary, I can say with confidence that it is impossible to improve personal skills and acquire the necessary game practice."

Currently, international cooperation in the field of baseball is actively developing with the friendly federations of Cuba and China. "In April 2023, for the first time since the late 80s, the Russian men's national team visited the Island of Freedom and held a match meeting with the Cuban national team, and in August we held the first ever Russian-Chinese Baseball Cup in Moscow," says Kiselyov. According to him, in April of this year, the youth team paid a return visit to the Chinese city of Wuxi, where they met with two leading Chinese clubs. "Agreements have been reached on the participation of Russian teams in similar international meetings in the 2025 season," the President of the federation emphasizes.

A source: Vedomosti