The World Baseball Softball Confederation hosted the under-18 European Championships in Pamplona, Spain, recently, but one team was not allowed to participate at any of the three host sites.

Out of fear of political backlash, the host city refused to allow Israel to play and forced the WBSC to find the team another home for the weeklong tournament.

In an exclusive interview with Softball On SI, a member of Israel Softball’s Board of Directors shared a detailed account of the events that led to the team’s relocation to Zaragoza, located two hours from Pamplona.

Due to security reasons, Israel Softball requested that Softball On SI not use specific names of team members.

“The European Championships were supposed to be in Pamplona, Navarra, and this had been planned for over a year,” the board member said. “Israel was confirmed the whole time. About a month before the tournament, the Spanish Baseball and Softball Federation had their final meetings with the city and the three venues, two were university/college fields and one was a municipal field. Out of nowhere, the city basically told the Federation that if Israel showed up, none of those fields would allow games involving Israel.”

Once WBSC Europe caught wind of this, the president threatened to cancel the entire tournament unless the local planning committee could find a new venue for the Israeli team. With all three fields in Pamplona off limits, the search ventured a couple of hours southeast of the host city.

Israel agreed to play there.

“The downside was that every team that had to play Israel would now need to travel two hours to Zaragoza for those games, and if Israel made the playoffs or finals, those games would also have to be there. Another thing, there was no opening ceremony at all.

“The reason was Israel wasn’t going to be allowed to participate in it, and WBSC Europe decided if Israel couldn’t be part of it, there’d be no ceremony at all. Same with flags, they removed all flags rather than excluding Israel’s.”

It was a tough tournament for the Israelis, who were comprised mostly of 14 to 17-year-old athletes.

Then, the protests came.

An Israeli softball outfielder plays in front of a group of pro-Palestinian protestors in Zaragoza, Spain.

An Israeli softball outfielder plays in front of a group of pro-Palestinian protestors in Zaragoza, Spain. / Submitted

“At literally every game, protesters stood behind the outfield fence with bullhorns yelling ‘Nazis, baby killers,’ and other anti‑Israel things in Spanish (and some English too),” the board member recalled. “The girls had to warm up right next to that fence, so they were being screamed at the entire time. This happened every single game, except one, where the schedule listed Israel as ‘X5’ and the protesters didn’t realize who it was. But in the last game, they came back louder than ever, the girls said that was the hardest day.”

During one of Israel’s games, protesters tried to climb the fence while the team was on the field. Protestors also set off fireworks, triggering PTSD for some players.

Unfortunately, playing through circumstances like these have become the norm for the team.

“Sadly, this isn’t new,” they said. “We’ve seen similar stuff at the Canada Cup and other European events, but this was one of the worst.”

The Israeli team did not win a game during the tournament, going 0-7, but earned the respect of its peers by playing through a pure hatred for its homeland.

“It was a brutal experience for them,” the board member added. “But, they stood strong the whole way.”