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WBSC Americas

The WBSC’s confederation for the Americas. Softball Canada traces it to CONPASA, founded in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on 3 July 1979, and lists 28 member countries.
✓ Last reviewed: October 2026
Founded

3 July 1979, San Juan, Puerto Rico, as CONPASA (softball), according to Softball Canada[1]

Parent body

WBSC, formed by the merger of the IBAF and the ISF on 14 April 2013 in Tokyo, per Olympedia[2]

Members

28 member countries, as Softball Canada lists them (undated page, accessed 1 October 2026)[1]

Earlier names

CONPASA (softball); Panam Sports named COPABE as the baseball body for Santiago 2023 and referred to “WBSC Americas Softball” in 2021[6][5]

Championship

2026 Men’s Pan American Championship (softball), Montería, Colombia, 21–28 February 2026, as USA Softball reports it[7]

Seat

Not established: the confederation’s own site and the WBSC’s site returned errors when retrieval was attempted

What is WBSC Americas?

WBSC Americas is the continental confederation for the Americas of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), which governs baseball and softball together. Olympedia records that the WBSC was formed when the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and the International Softball Federation (ISF) merged “on 14 April 2013, in Tokyo, Japan”, and that the WBSC has overseen Baseball5 since 2017.[2]

The continental name covers what were, on the record retrieved, two lines. On the softball side, Softball Canada writes that “WBSC Americas (formerly known as CONPASA)” was founded in 1979.[1] On the baseball side, Panam Sports’ qualification manual for the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games printed “COPABE” as the body responsible for baseball,[6] while a Panam Sports release of 11 March 2021 referred to “la WBSC Americas Softball”.[5] When the two were brought under the single name WBSC Americas could not be established from the sources retrieved. The confederation’s own website and the WBSC’s website returned errors when retrieval was attempted, so its statutes, legal form and self-description could not be quoted from primary documents.

What does WBSC Americas govern or do?

Softball Canada gives the softball confederation’s purpose, from its founding, as being to organise and promote softball on the American continent and to “regulate the Pan American Softball competitions”, and lists among its objectives to “organize, approve and regulate Softball competitions at the Pan American Games, and all the Pan American Championships”.[1]

Its work with the continental Games is documented by Panam Sports. For the Cali 2021 Junior Pan American Games, Panam Sports announced that it had reached “un acuerdo con la WBSC Americas Softball para el Sistema de Clasificación” for women’s softball.[5] For Santiago 2023, Panam Sports’ manual named COPABE as responsible for the eight-team men’s baseball tournament.[6] At world level, Olympedia records the WBSC’s headquarters “in Pully, Switzerland (adjacent to Lausanne, the Olympic Capital)”.[2]

When was WBSC Americas founded and where is it based?

Softball Canada records that “WBSC Americas (formerly known as CONPASA) was founded on July 3, 1979 in San Juan, Puerto Rico”, during the VIII Pan American Games, when softball leaders from the Netherlands Antilles, Argentina, Belize, Bermuda, Colombia, El Salvador, Mexico, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela met to establish a Pan American softball confederation.[1] That date is a national federation’s account; the confederation’s own history page could not be retrieved to confirm it.

The founding date of the baseball confederation, COPABE, could not be established from a retrieved source. Its world body has its own dated history: Olympedia gives 1938 as the founding year of the International Baseball Federation and records its later names, among them the return to “International Baseball Federation” with the acronym IBAF in 2000,[3] and gives 1952 for the International Softball Federation.[4] Both merged into the WBSC in 2013.[2] The seat and legal address of WBSC Americas could not be established, because its statutes could not be retrieved.

How is WBSC Americas recognised?

The recognising act for a continental confederation is the world federation’s. The WBSC’s statutes could not be retrieved — its website returned an error — so the article under which the WBSC recognises WBSC Americas, and the tasks it delegates to it, could not be quoted. Olympedia gives 2013 both as the WBSC’s founding year and as the year of its IOC recognition;[2] that recognition is the world body’s, and the continental confederation holds none of its own. Softball Canada describes the WBSC Softball Division, “formerly known as the International Softball Federation”, as “the governing body of softball internationally as recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and SportAccord”.[1]

The continental Games tie is with Panam Sports, which named COPABE as the responsible body for baseball in its Santiago 2023 qualification manual[6] and agreed the Cali 2021 junior softball qualification system with “WBSC Americas Softball”.[5]

What does WBSC Americas organise?

Softball Canada lists the softball confederation’s objective of organising and regulating “all the Pan American Championships” in softball, alongside softball at the Pan American Games.[1] One senior championship is documented by a national federation: USA Softball reports that WBSC Americas organised the 2026 Men’s Pan American Championship in softball in Montería, Colombia, from 21 to 28 February 2026, with twelve teams in three groups, as a qualifier for the group stage of the 2028 WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup.[7] The confederation’s own calendar and results archive, on its website and on the WBSC’s, could not be retrieved, so the first edition and frequency of its senior baseball and softball championships could not be confirmed from the organiser’s record, and whether a senior men’s Pan American baseball championship is on its 2026 calendar could not be confirmed either.

What the Panam Sports record does show is the baseball qualifying route to Santiago 2023 under COPABE: first place at the “Torneo Sudamericano” in Lima, Peru (24–30 July 2022), the first four teams of the “Serie de las Américas” (April–May 2023) and first place at the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games in El Salvador, with Chile qualifying as host.[6]

Who are its members?

Members are national federations. Softball Canada writes that “Currently the WBSC Americas has 28 member countries”, and lists them: Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Curacao, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Turks and Caicos Island, United States, US Virgin Islands, and Venezuela.[1] The page is undated and sits in a softball federation’s account of softball membership; a baseball membership count from the confederation itself could not be retrieved.

At world level, Olympedia records that as of January 2026 the WBSC had “207 Members: 192 National Federations (185 Full Members and seven Provisional Members) and 15 Associated Members in 142 countries and territories”, a figure for the whole world body, not for the Americas.[2]

References

  1. Softball Canada — International (WBSC, WBSC Softball Division, WBSC Americas). Accessed 2026-10-01.
  2. Olympedia — World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). Accessed 2026-10-01.
  3. Olympedia — International Baseball Federation (IBAF). Accessed 2026-10-01.
  4. Olympedia — International Softball Federation (ISF). Accessed 2026-10-01.
  5. Panam Sports — “Cali 2021 suma al sóftbol femenino en la sub sede de Barranquilla para los Juegos Panamericanos Junior” (11 March 2021). Accessed 2026-10-01.
  6. Panam Sports — Manual de Sistemas de Clasificación, Santiago 2023 (baseball). Accessed 2026-10-01.
  7. USA Softball — 2026 Men’s Pan American Championship (Montería, Colombia). Accessed 2026-10-01.