Zimbabwe Baseball Association President Thembani Moyo and Zimbabwe Softball Association President Stonard Mapfumo met to agree on a cooperation protocol.

The two organisations jointly selected Zimbabwe's team for the first-ever Baseball5 African Championship as a result, with a steering committee formed to guide the process.

This cooperation mirrors what has happened in Kenya, where Baseball Kenya and Softball Kenya joined forces to develop the country's national Baseball5 teams.

Meanwhile in Japan, a standalone organisation was created to govern the Baseball5 discipline.

Baseball5 is a mixed-gender, pitcher-free discipline which requires only a rubber ball to play and no bat, so is designed to bring baseball to previously inaccessible areas.

Any playing surface can be used and hitting is done by hand.

The inaugural Baseball5 African Championship begins today in Tanzania, with 10 teams in action.

The host nation, Tunisia, Ghana, Uganda, Egypt, Zambia and Burkina Faso all have national governing bodies which oversee both baseball and softball.

Of the participating teams, South Africa is the only other with split organisations and South African Baseball has taken the lead on picking a team for the Baseball5 African Championship.

Baseball5 is on the programme for the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar in 2026 and has been championed by the World Baseball Softball Confederation as a youth- and urban-friendly discipline with the ability to be a vehicle for growing the sport.