WBSC-Europe Winter League a Big Success; More Planned for FutureFor the second straight year, WBSC-Europe hosted an 18U winter league in Tenerife featuring the best young players in Europe in an effort to give the players an opportunity to get advanced training and play top-notch competition.
The event, which lasted for nine days, brought together experienced hitting and pitching coaches as well as nutritionists, doctors and trainers, and club administrators. Players not only received advanced instruction in baseball techniques, but also experienced classroom topics covering agility, sleep, and the mental aspects of the game including dealing with failing, motivation and much more. Three teams were formed from the players who were selected to come to the island based on their level of play and recommendations from European Federations. The teams competed daily in a three-team tournament format observed by scouts from several MLB organizations. WBSC-Europe hopes to have four teams of players in the future. In the inaugural event last year, three players signed professional contracts and two were selected to play college ball in the USA. While still too early to tell, organizers of the event are confident that some of the players from this year's event will receive offers. ISG Vice-President Pete Caliendo was one of the instructors at the event for the second straight year. He also managed one of the squads and provided the visuals here. Four Clinics Jump Start ISG 2022-23 ProgramAfter two years dealing with the world-wide pandemic which canceled much of ISG's clinics, clinic teams visited four countries this past month. Federations in Portugal, Serbia, and Ireland hosted teams consisting of high school, college and professional coaches who shared their knowledge with local coaches furthering ISG's mission to grow the game by educating coaches.
A fourth clinic was held in Amsterdam, Netherlands in cooperation with the European Baseball Coaches Association. The clinic marked the 17th year the two groups have conducted clinics in various cities around Europe. This month, an ISG team will travel to Korea for the first time! Renowned pitching coach, Derek Johnson of the Cincinnati Reds, will accompany Pete Caliendo to both share knowledge and hopefully learn some techniques from the Korean coaches in attendance. The new year will feature eight more clinics in Europe and North America. German Coach Creates Great Game to Introduce Baseball to Kids!
A good friend of ISG, Alper Bozkurt, has created a game which he uses to teach basic baseball skills to newcomers to the game. Bozkurt administers the Baseball Akademie Paderborn, a unique school where students not only study academic subjects in various schools in the area around the Academy but also spend several nights per week honing their physical and baseball-specific skills.
Bozkurt has long been a fixture in game development in his home state of North Rhine Westphalia traveling the area and working with kids of all ages. But his creation of Alper Ball has been much more successful than he could ever have dreamed. The game simplifies what are sometimes difficult rules to understand for beginners and creates situations that foster success - and most importantly -- FUN. A graphic illustration of the game's rules can be found here on our "Coaching Tips" page. For further information regarding the game, Alper would be very willing to talk more about it. His contact information is also provided on that page. Tips for a First Time Coach(This article appeared on the Positive Coaching Alliance website and its philosophy is shared by the ISG Baseball Board of Directors whose members heartily endorse joining that great organization!)
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FULL SLATE OF CLINICS ON TAP FOR 2022-2023!!
See Schedule page for details. ALL COACHES NEED TO JOIN THE ABCA TODAY!
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Baseball Canada's Vision for Long Term Athletic Development Shared in Coaching Tips Section
Baseball Canada is miles ahead of the curve when it comes to developing athletes for life-long success. Thanks to our friend Andre Lachance, they have allowed us to share the scope of that vision with you. Check out our coaching tips section for a graphic illustration of their LTAD plans.
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