The debut of Baseball5 at the Olympic Games will take place during the 2026 Youth edition in Dakar, Senegal, but in Cuba, they are already thinking about that long-awaited debut under the five rings.

In an exclusive interview with CubaSí, the sports head of the technical staff, Eros Bernal, shared what is being done today with an eye on that event.

"The first step is to fight for a direct spot at the 2026 Olympics during the 2025 Youth World Championship. It will be a special tournament because it’s the first of its kind, with a new generation that has high expectations, but we will prepare them with the same vision as the current players.

"The coaching staff evaluates talent every time there’s a competition. In this case, we’re focusing on Olympic-age players, and we can say we’re pleased because we even see potential in the female category. We have to work with these under-15 players because they lack international experience."

How challenging is it to adapt from four corners’ game to Baseball5?

"It’s not just about changing the mindset from four corners; even with natural talent, we have to reignite interest in this discipline. This is a more tech-savvy generation, and it’s not easy to find players, but we’re working on it. It’s no secret that today’s youth spend less time outdoors and play fewer traditional games, but the results we’ve achieved also motivate us, and we’re trying to capitalize on that.

"Enrollments at the EIDE (Schools for Sports Initiation) will allow us to build the next generation to replace the current one, which has brought us so many triumphs, because the competitive demands will only increase each year. The current players may not fulfill the Olympic dream, but the future ones will."

How significant are the achievements so far?

"Since its launch and the development achieved over the past seven years with a strong team and talented athletes, we’ve achieved very good results. It’s been hard work. It hasn’t been by chance; it involves deep talent scouting, especially in the female sector, because women make a difference at the elite level. We’ve achieved stability.

"Little by little, we’ve incorporated the more lagging provinces. As with all processes, some territories stand out more at the beginning, but today we can say that all are involved. As a teaching body, we collaborate with training courses, and by integrating into the national competitive system, we’ve entered the sports pyramid, which is a step forward.

"We’ve been improving the technical conditions of the playing fields, and whether on cement or wooden surfaces, we’ve made progress. At the grassroots level, we use whatever is available, marking the field with official measurements, and we’ve seen fantastic experiences in provinces that show that when you put love into the work, you can improve. Today, we have a municipality where you can play at night, and there are plans to bring this discipline to all communities for events. With official conditions, there’s at least one field in every province, and the fences are the most complicated part, but we manage to work around it.

"We have a strategy to support the fundamental equipment of this sport, which is the ball. We can’t always provide the official ball, but any rubber ball can be used to play, and the adaptation isn’t too complex when there’s an official competition. We have a very united team, the older players help us, and we envision a fairly stable succession."

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff