ARGENTINA, THE SOFTBALL WORLD CHAMPION

Most of them play in an amateur league, where love for the sport is stronger than receiving a salary for it. However, the professionalism of Argentina's softball team is not in question. Their recent world title in the Czech Republic helped them get the recognition of a system where soccer is the most popular sport. Now, they have the support of the States.

Argentina arrived at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games to claim the gold, by competing against nations with more softball tradition. For years, they have been on the podium of several continental competitions, but they hope to achieve a milestone for Argentine sport at the Villa María del Triunfo Sports Center.

Most of the Argentinian team members that arrived at Lima are from the Entre Ríos province, north of Buenos Aires. Many of them train for hours, in order to keep succeeding, but off the court they have a job like everyone else. Some of them, like Federico Eder, promote this sport at schools. Of course, ad honorem.

“It’s a disadvantage not to be an Olympic sport, but we haven’t given up on our goal and people still practice softball. This is the result of many years of work. Many of us play this sport since the age of 4 and come from the city of Paraná, in the province of Entre Ríos. That’s the capital of softball in Argentina. Softball is way more important there than soccer, and those who are not from the city live there too,” said Eder.

Meanwhile, Argentinian star Huemul Mata, the only player featured in a professional league, stressed the team’s perseverance. “As an amateur team, we’ve been through so many things, but we enjoy it despite all the struggles. Some of my colleagues have made sacrifices even greater than mine. Sometimes you travel only for the experience, but after the recognition we had for winning the World Cup, I feel satisfied with everything sport has given me,” said Mata.

SOFTBALL AT LIMA 2019

The Peruvian softball team will participate for the first time in the Pan American Games. After training in several Caribbean nations, Peru was able to place 6th in the Pan American ranking. Peru will make its debut against Cuba in the afternoon (16:00). Show them your support and buy your tickets at lima2019.pe/tickets.

Six teams will play in a round-robin preliminary round to move to the next stage. The sport is governed by the World Baseball and Softball Confederation (WBSC) regulations. The game consists of seven innings, where each team alternates batting and fielding. Finally, the team that scores the most runs wins.

Here's the rest of the men's softball calendar:

You can buy your tickets for these matches on the Lima 2019 Pan American and Parapan American Games website: www.lima2019.pewww.lima2019.pe

You can also buy your tickets at any authorized point of sale at the Metro and Wong hypermarkets and stores in the districts of Chorrillos, Independencia, La Molina, Lima, Miraflores, San Borja, San Isidro, San Juan de Miraflores, San Miguel, and Surco.  It is worth mentioning that a new point of sale has just opened at the Jockey Plaza shopping center in Santiago de Surco.

Photo gallery (click here)