USA Baseball 16U Championships-East

Returns to Palm Beach County for It’s 8th Consecutive Year

Jupiter, FL - The Palm Beach County Sports Commission and USA Baseball are proud to announce the return of America’s premier amateur baseball tournament for athletes 15-16 years of age.  The USA Baseball 16U Championships-East, returns to Palm Beach County for its 8th consecutive year beginning on Saturday, June 21st and concluding with its championship game the following Saturday, June 28th.   The games will be held at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter and Santaluces Athletic Complex in Lantana.  Games will begin at 8am each day.  The East and West Championships are conducted simultaneously in Palm Beach County and Tucson, Arizona.  Both events field 72 teams and approximately 1,400 athletes from over 26 different states.

“The event fills rooms at more than 15 hotels in the North Palm Beach County area and generates over 3,000 room nights in total each year,” stated Gerry Baron, Sports Commission executive director. “Roger Dean Stadium is noted in the baseball industry as one of the premier facilities in the US to host this kind of event. It is the only complex outside of Arizona with so many world-class fields in one location. Groups including the Town of Jupiter and the Jupiter Tequesta Athletic Association, plus the Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation Department at the Santaluces Athletic Complex in Lantana, all commit valuable assistance to make this event happen. This tournament is a great example of the community working together to showcase Palm Beach County as a sports tourist destination. Even better, it’s held when our tourism industry needs the business, during the summer season.”

The USA Baseball 16U Championships is a grassroots development program. This tournament is used as an exclusive selection vehicle for the Youth National Team Trials.  At least 36 individuals are selected from the tournament’s collection of players.  Those 36 individual athletes move through a 10-day training camp where they then compete for selection spots on an 18-man roster.  The 2008 Youth National Team will compete in the Confederation of Pan American Baseball (COPABE) ‘AA’ Pan Am Youth American Championships scheduled for August 22-31st in David, Panama.
               
For more information contact Jeff Singer via email at jeffsinger@usabaseball.com, or go to www.PalmBeachSports.com