USA Baseball National Team
USA Baseball Junior National Team
USA Baseball Youth National Team/USA Junior
Olympic Baseball Championships
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USA Baseball is the National Governing Body for
the sport and represents amateur baseball in
America as a member of the United States
Olympic Committee (USOC) and the International
Baseball Association (IBA). Virtually every
major national amateur baseball organization in
America is a USA Baseball National Member.
These constituencies account for USA Baseball's
governance of more than 19 million amateur
athletes in this country.
USA Baseball is the sole organization
responsible for selecting, training and
supporting the USA Baseball National Team, the
USA Baseball Junior National Team (18-under)
and the USA Baseball Youth National Team
(16-under). These teams participate in
international competitions such as the Olympic
Games and World Championships. By recognizing
our nation's top players at an early age, the
USA Baseball player development/identification
system has produced positive results in
international competition over the past several
years.
USA Baseball is also responsible for promoting
and developing the game of baseball both
nationally and internationally. In fulfillment
of this mission, USA Baseball strives to
coordinate, not duplicate, the programs and
endeavors of its various membership groups and
to provide services unique and necessary to all
baseball fans and players. In addition, via its
sanctioning program, USA Baseball protects the
rights and status of amateur baseball players
and provides the opportunity for athletes to
pursue excellence in international competition.
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USA Baseball National Team
Each summer, the USA Baseball National Team is
identified and selected by the USA Baseball
Team's General Manager and its coaching staff,
in conjunction with professional baseball
scouting directors, cross-checkers and
collegiate recruiters. National Team members
hail from numerous colleges across the country,
and USA Baseball strives to develop team
cohesiveness and consistency by giving its
players the opportunity to play together as
often as possible. Due to the fact that most of
the USA's international competitors are older
and more experienced internationally, playing
together and developing team unity is
imperative to the USA Baseball National Team's
success.
USA Baseball uses its National Team Trials,
conducted each autumn/winter, as the initial
step in the player evaluation process. The
other evaluation phase is the USA Baseball
National Team Training Camp which immediately
precedes the summer season of international
competition.
Most of the players at this summer's training
camp were identified near the end of 1996 and
participated in the 1997 National Team Trials
in January. USA Baseball conducted this
evaluation camp at Legends Field, Spring
Training Home of the New York Yankees, in
Tampa, Fla. Sixty-five of the top college
players in the nation were invited to
participate in an intensive four-day training
program, which included testing, practice and
game competition. The 1997 USA Baseball
National Team will be composed predominantly of
the core group of players that were identified
in Tampa.
Head Coach Bob Milano (Univ. of California)
will lead the 1997 USA Baseball National Team
in pursuit of the gold medal at the
International Baseball Association's XIII
Intercontinental Cup in Barcelona, Spain, in
early August. Milano will be assisted by Mike
Gillespie (Univ. of Southern California), Larry
Hays (Texas Tech Univ.) and Pat McMahon
(Mississippi State Univ.).
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USA Baseball Junior National Team
Composed of the nation's top players aged 18
years and younger, the USA Baseball Junior
National Team is a perennial power on the
international baseball scene at the World
Junior Championships. In 1996, the USA Baseball
Junior National Team captured the bronze medal
in Sancti Spiritus, Cuba; the previous summer,
the Juniors captured the gold medal at historic
Fenway Park in Boston. In the tournament's 16
years, the United States is the only nation to
have captured a medal at each and every
competition. The U.S. winnings include four
gold medals, eight silver medals and four
bronze medals (see listing below).
The 1997 USA Baseball Junior National Team will
be led by Head Coach Bill Olson (Omaha, Neb.)
who will guide the U.S. squad in its attempt to
regain World Champion status at the World
Junior Championships in Moncton, New Brunswick,
Canada, from August 8-16. (The United States
qualified for this tournament by capturing the
bronze medal at the Pan American Championships
conducted in Londrina, Brazil, earlier this
year.) Olson will be assisted by Ted Blake
(Glendale, Ariz.) and Phil Clark (Germantown,
Tenn.).
Prior to the World Junior Championships, the
USA Baseball staff will invite 54 players to
attend the Junior National Team Trials to be
conducted in mid-July at Missouri Southern
State College in Joplin, Missouri. The
decisions on invitations are made in
consultation with USA Baseball Staff, college
recruiters and coaches, professional scouts and
high school coaches. At the trials, players
will be divided into three teams of 18. The
10-day training period will include testing,
practice, and game competition. At the
conclusion of the training camp, the coaching
staff will select 18 players to comprise the
USA Baseball Junior National Team. The team
will then train for one week before traveling
to the IBA World Junior Baseball Championships.
For more information regarding the USA Baseball
Junior National Team, contact Paul Seiler, USA
Baseball Special Project Manager, at (609)
586-2381, ext. 13.
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USA Baseball Youth National Team/USA Junior Olympic
Baseball Championships
For the first time in the organization's
history, USA Baseball will select and train an
official national team in the 16-under age
category for international competition this
summer. The 1997 USA Baseball Youth National
Team will participate in the International
Baseball Association World Youth Championships
in Taipei, Taiwan. Scheduled for July 12-20,
the tournament will feature 12 of the world's
best teams, including Cuba, Japan, Korea,
Chinese Taipei and the United States. Regional
qualifier tournaments determine tournament
participants.
"Over the years, USA Baseball has achieved
tremendous success at both the senior-elite and
junior levels," said Dan O'Brien, USA Baseball
Executive Director/CEO. "We are confident that
the newly designated USA Baseball Youth
National Team will continue this tradition of
success at the youth level. By competing at
this age level internationally, USA Baseball is
making a strong commitment to sustained
competitive excellence. Via the youth program,
USA Baseball is now able to provide increased
continuity to the Olympic identification and
development program."
The 1997 USA Baseball Youth National Team will
be led by Head Coach John Sawyer (Snellville,
Ga.). He will be assisted by Mark McKenzie
(Minnetonka, Minn.) and Michael Spiers
(Riverside, Calif.).
The USA Junior Olympic Baseball Championships
is a grassroots Olympic Development Program
launched in 1996 by USA Baseball in cooperation
with the U.S. Olympic Committee. The tournament
serves as an open competition for teams of
players aged 16 years and younger. After a
successful inaugural tournament in the summer
of 1996, as many as 64 teams are expected to
participate in this summer's contests.
For more information regarding the USA Junior
Olympic Baseball Championships or the USA
Baseball Youth National Team, please contact
Wanda Rutledge, USA Baseball Deputy Director,
at (609) 586-2381, ext. 17.