INAUGURAL USA BASEBALL CHAMPIONS CLASSIC PROGRAM READY FOR LAUNCH

by Kevin T. Czerwinski
November 2, 2006

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    • PEORIA, AZ – When USA Baseball goes about selecting players for international competitions such as the Olympics or the Pan-Am Games, finding players is simple enough. Go to the buffet table of professional and college players, make your selections and field a team.

    It’s not as easy, though, when you’re looking to fill the roster for one of the younger national teams. Bringing in players from around the country can be costly and time consuming with no guarantees that the best talent will be found. USA Baseball is on the verge of making that search process a bit easier, though.

    USA Baseball will host the first annual USA Baseball Champions Classic this weekend in Peoria, a three-day tournament for athletes 14 years and younger. The event is the culmination of series of tournaments that began in September in Oregon, Utah, California and Arizona, serving as the launching point for the Champions Program.

    The tournament will take place at the Peoria Sports Complex on the fields used by the Seattle Mariners during Spring Training. The 11 teams will play a total of 24 games – 11 contests on Friday and again on Saturday – with the bronze medal and championship game being contested on Sunday. The title game will be played in the main stadium at 11 a.m.

    This event and the qualifying tournaments that led up to it, as well as subsequent Champions Classics, will give USA Baseball organizers a look at some of the younger talent that may turn into the stars of tomorrow. By getting a handle on who’s who among the younger players, extending invitations in years to come should become easier.

    "USA Baseball selects a college national team, a junior national team and a youth national team so for five or six years, we’re able to identify players when they are 15 and 16," said Dave Perkins, USA Baseball’s director of marketing. "With this program, we can get them into the system and they can become a better athlete as a 17-year-old or a college player. It’s a benefit to get them into the system as a younger player and more familiar with USA Baseball.

    "Look at Tyson Ross, a pitcher who just started his sophomore year at Cal. He played on the Junior National team and came back last year for the trials as a college player. He didn’t make the team but he was much better prepared for the trials having gone through the process in high school. We had a pitcher Blake Beavan, a high school senior in Texas, throw a complete-game victory against Cuba in Cuba a couple of months ago. So we’re trying to get players in the pipeline and more familiar at a younger age."

    In addition, USA Baseball hopes the Champions Program will make it easier for youngsters to participate in its events.

    "What we’re trying to do is bring USA Baseball to more of a grass roots level," said Champions Program Director Rick Riccobono. "We wanted to have the kids be able to play in events in places like northern California and Portland so it would be an hour ride or less and be able to experience USA Baseball without all the travel."

    No player participating in the tournament may turn 15 prior to Jan. 1, 2008. Each of the four regional tournaments had eight teams with a minimum of two qualifiers were awarded to each region. Several of which may be familiar to folks who follow USA Baseball. NorCal Baseball and Utah County’s programs have been working with USA Baseball for nearly a decade.

    The Champions Program, however, is still operating without the official approval of USA Baseball’s executive board. Riccobono said, however, that he expects such approval before long and that the Champions Program will crown a yearly winner and that the program shouldn’t be considered experimental.

    Kevin T. Czerwinski is a reporter for MLB.com.