LAUSANNE (SUI) – A major announcement was made at the recent Mexican Baseball Federation’s 71st Ordinary General Assembly of Associations in Reynosa, Tamaulipas.
Mexican Baseball Federation (Femebe) president Alonso Pérez (who is also First Vice-President of WBSC’s International Baseball Executive) together with the Telmex Foundation — under the patronage of Telmex/América Móvil Chairman Carlos Slim, a great baseball appreciator and fan — announced the launching of the new Mexican national youth baseball ‘Telmex League’ in the Under-15 category, which will begin operations in 2014.
The new Telmex League will give the opportunity to all youth leagues affiliated with Femebe, inviting them to participate in the new national U15 league, which aims to strengthen the resources, organisation, visibility and solidarity of the youth baseball leagues in Mexico, while providing an overarching structure to standardize/streamline competitions and development initiatives nationwide.
While baseball is one of the most popular sports in Mexico – and the Americas, in general – the new youth-centered national league championship will become a key pillar of Femebe’s long-term strategy to include and attract even more young people and diverse communities to the sport of baseball.
The new Telmex youth baseball league will also serve as an incubator and platform to reinforce Mexico’s National Team programme which is currently No. 12 in the World Baseball Rankings.
The U15 Telmex platform will become Femebe’s primary method for identifying, growing and selecting top athletes to represent Team Mexico in the 2nd U15 Baseball World Cup, which will be hosted by Mexico in the popular tourist destination of Baja California Sur in August.
The Mexican baseball chief, Perez, expressed his appreciation and confidence in Femebe’s new cooperation with Slim’s Telmex Foundation, and Perez envisions accelerated growth and widespread opportunities to activate even more young people within the sport of baseball, as a result of the partnership with the humanitarian arm of the telecommunications giant.
“This is a great effort between Telmex and (Femebe) in order to generate immense growth of our sport in Mexico, and we are certain that there will be significant benefits to many young people and communities across the nation, thanks to the support of this great Mexican company (Telmex) and telecommunications leader,” said Perez.
Slim’s Telmex Foundation is a philanthropic organisation whose mission is to serve Mexican society and contribute to solving major national problems by implementing robust programs related to education, sports, health/nutrition, justice and human development.
Riccardo Fraccari, co-president of the World Baseball Softball Confederation, applauded the announcement.
“The WBSC congratulates the Mexican Baseball Federation and President Perez for achieving this landmark cooperation, which aggressively targets the youth demographic, with such a prestigious and able partner like the Telmex Foundation,” said Fraccari.
“This collaboration not only highlights the diligent efforts of our friends at the Mexican Baseball Federation, but also demonstrates the recognised value and benefits that baseball/softball can bring to young people, to a community and to overall society.”
While the Telmex-backed baseball league targets Mexico, through Claro Americas (one of America Movil’s many subsidiaries throughout the Caribbean, Central -, North- and South America), a similar youth baseball initiative, the Claro Baseball Cup, is already being established in Colombia, in cooperation with the Colombian Baseball Federation and WBSC’s International Baseball branch.
Femebe’s 71st National Baseball Congress, which took aim at reinforcing the strategic-plan for advancing the sport of baseball in Mexico, was hosted by the Tamaulipas Institute of Sport and attended by thirty-six of Femebe’s national associations which are invested in national youth baseball development and general baseball promotion in Mexico.
