by USA Baseball
2013 will mark the inaugural year for the 12U National Team.
USA baseball will implement a rolling invitation process for naming players to the 2013 squad. A total of 18 athletes will be identified through officially sanctioned identification events in the spring for 12U National Team Training and eventual competition at the II IBAF 12U World Cup. Players eligible for the 2013 12U National Team must be born on or after Jan. 1, 2001.
The primary identification vehicle for the 2013 USA Baseball 12U National Team will be a series of regional identification tryouts and tournaments to be held from March through May 2013. These will be sanctioned identification events that are affiliated with the USA Baseball National Team Identification Series (NTIS). Details on the tryouts and tournaments will be released on USABaseball.com as they are available. Additonal secondary events and recommendations from professional scouts, college and high school coaches, and the amateur baseball community may also be used to identify players. As players are named to the team, USA Baseball will publicize the announcement(s) through a press release and/or by posting to USABaseball.com.
Once the 18 players have been invited, they will convene at a location and time yet to be determined to participate in the 2013 USA Baseball 12U National Team Training. At the 12U Training, players will participate in practices and exhibition games as they prepare to compete in the IBAF “A” World Championships to be held in Taipei City, Taiwan, from July 20-28.
Additionally, players may qualify for the 2014 12U National Team Trials by competing in the 2013 11U NTIS. The NTIS is held each September and provides USA Baseball with an advanced look at the upcoming class of top players at the 12U, 15U, 17U and 18U competition levels.
At the NTIS, USA Baseball Task Force members will identify a minium of 16 players for the following season’s 12U National Team Trials. Players may participate in the NTIS through a regional qualification process or via the USA Stars at-large program.
Additional identification events will be held in the summer of 2014 to identify players for the 2014 12U National Team Trials. These events may include, but are not limited to, 12U USA Baseball National Team Championships tournaments and events held at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C.
