12U Baseball World Cup

12U Baseball World Cup
Sport	Baseball
Founded	2011
No. of teams	14
Continent	International
Most recent champion(s)	United States

The 12U Baseball World Cup is the under-12 world championship sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and is the most elite and highest level of competition in its age category. The 12U baseball world championship is staged every two years and was launched in 2011 in Taiwan.

Unlike other youth international competitions like the Little League World Series, which involve local clubs, the 12U Baseball World Cup is the only global event across baseball—and all of sport—to feature National Teams in this age group (11 to 12 years-old).

The 12U Baseball World Cup is played under the IBAF's International Rules. Dimensions of regulation 12U Baseball World Cup ballparks (distance to the outfield fence, pitching mound, base paths, etc.) are significantly increased compared to local youth leagues, due to the superior nature and strength of the players involved.

Because the 12U Baseball World Cup is considered a "world championship" event, the results of the tournaments have an impact on the IBAF World Rankings.

The inaugural tournament took place in July 2011 and was won by its host Chinese Taipei. The tournament was slated to include 13 national teams and crowned the first ever world champion. Through this tournament, the IBAF looked to assume a leadership position for this age bracket in conjunction with major youth baseball organizations to further develop and promote baseball across the world. The tournament was hosted in Taipei City, one of the prominent tournament venues for international competitions.^[1]

Results

Year	Host	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Year	Host	Medalists
2011 Details	Taipei	Chinese Taipei¹	Cuba	Venezuela
2013 Details	Taipei	United States	Chinese Taipei¹	Japan
2015 Details	Tainan	United States	Chinese Taipei¹	Nicaragua

¹Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan, due to complicated relations with People's Republic of China, is recognized by the name Chinese Taipei by most of the international organizations. For more information, please see Cross-Strait relations.

Medal Table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	2	0	0	2
2	Chinese Taipei	1	2	0	3
3	Cuba	0	1	0	1
4	Venezuela	0	0	1	1
5	Nicaragua	0	0	1	1
6	Japan	0	0	1	1

References

↑ 2011 IBAF Yearbook

International baseball

WBSC (former governing body: IBAF) World Rankings Teams

Major World Events	Summer Olympics (not often) World Baseball Classic WBSC Premier12 Women's Baseball World Cup

Minor World Events	Summer Universiade (not often) University (not often) 23U Baseball World Cup 18U Baseball World Cup 15U Baseball World Cup 12U Baseball World Cup

Defunct World Events	World Games Baseball World Cup Intercontinental Cup Women's Baseball World Series

Africa	African Baseball & Softball Association – All-Africa Games

Americas	Pan American Baseball Confederation – Pan American Games America Cup Caribbean Series Central American and Caribbean Games South American Games

Asia	Baseball Federation of Asia – Asian Championship Asian Games Junior (under 18) Southeast Asian Games SAARC Baseball Championship Asia Series

Europe	Confederation of European Baseball – European Championship European Cup "Final Four" Under-21 Junior (under 18) Youth (under 16) Juveniles (under 12)

Oceania	Baseball Confederation of Oceania – Oceania Championship Pacific Games

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