Baseball Canada releases 2018 calendar of events
Photo Credit: Baseball Canada
By Adam Morissette
Baseball Canada
OTTAWA - With pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training across sites in Arizona and Florida, baseball is right around the corner, and we’re thrilled to release the calendar of events for 2018!
The month of January included the 16th annual National Teams Awards Banquet and Fundraiser in Toronto and just two weeks later, over 300 coaches attended the annual National Coaches Clinic hosted by the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Academy at Rogers Centre.
Baseball will be played in February, as 25 female athletes will head to Cuba for the ninth annual Girls Baseball Development Camp.
In March, the Junior National Team’s schedule begins with Spring Training in St. Petersburg, Fla., that includes a March 17 game against the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin that will be televised nationally on Sportsnet ONE. Subsequent Junior National Team camp are set to take place in Palm Beach, Fla., in April and the Dominican Republic in May as the squad prepares for the COPABE U-18 Pan American Championships next fall in Panama.
Our Women’s National Team program will begin the process of selecting a roster to compete at the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup at the Women’s Invitational, from July 5-8 at Ahuntsic Park in Montréal. Following the event, invited players will participate in a selection camp that will determine the 20-player roster that will represent Canada at the Women’s Baseball World Cup from August 22-31 in Viera, Fla.
The Women’s Nationals starts off Baseball Canada’s National Championships season that kicks into high gear in August where nine of 11 events will be played. After being played at the Canada Games in 2017, the Baseball Canada Cup returns to its format in 2018 in Moncton, N.B., with all ten provinces sending 17U All-Star teams.
September will see the final National Champion crowned at the DQ 13U National Atlantic in Summerside, PE while the sixth edition of Tournament 12, hosted by Robbie Alomar and the Toronto Blue Jays, will be staged at Rogers Centre.
The fall months will be busy for our Junior National Team program with the annual Fall Instructional League Camp in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., in October at the 18U Pan Am Championships at a to be determined date in Panama.
A Pan Am Games qualification tournament for the Senior National Team will also be played at a to be determined date and site.
Finally, Ottawa will host the annual Baseball Canada Fall Meetings in November, bringing together all 10 Provincial Baseball Associations.