USA Baseball Enhances National Team Identification Series
Tuesday, January 12, 2016, 7pm
DURHAM, N.C. -- USA Baseball announced Tuesday the enhancement of its National Team Identification Series (NTIS); unveiling a new logo, new tagline, and an enriched player identification process. The new tagline, "Your Region This Year, Your Country Next," embraces the overall mission of the NTIS to provide athletes from all over the country an opportunity to play for Team USA.
"For the past seven years the National Team Identification Series has been the most comprehensive identification program for USA Baseball and we are excited to take this event to the next level," said Paul Seiler, USA Baseball's Executive Director/CEO. "Our goal is to canvas the entire country searching for baseball players to represent the red, white, and blue, and the NTIS is the perfect avenue to find and challenge those athletes whose dreams are to wear USA across their chest."
The new event logo represents a program that has become one of the most important pieces of the selection process for the national team programs. The logo will be personalized and used in all 16 region-specific identification events, showcasing the cohesive and symbiotic relationship between these regions and the organization.
USA Baseball designated 16 Regional Directors to be in charge of identifying the best athletes to attend the NTIS from across the U.S. These directors have been hand-selected by the organization thereby extending USA Baseball's vision into every region in the country. Athletes selected to attend the NTIS will be done within the values and criterion set forth by USA Baseball. All attendees will compete head-to-head against athletes and teams from different regions across the country in a series of games and skills testing.
The eighth annual identification series will be divided into three events and five age groups, allowing task force members, as well as college and major league scouts in attendance, the opportunity to evaluate players closely.
The NTIS will take place at the National Training Complex and adjoining Thomas Brooks Park in Cary, N.C. from August 10 - 28.
From the five age groups, USA Baseball will name a minimum of six players to the 2017 Tournament of Stars, a minimum of four players to the 18U National Team Trials, and a minimum of 12 players will be named to the 2017 17U National Team Development Program (17U NTDP).
At least 12 players will be invited to the 2017 15U National Team Trials, as well as a minimum of 12 players to both the 2017 14U National Team Development Program (14U NTDP) and 12U National Team Trials.
Athletes can register for their respective regional identification event by visiting the 2016 National Team Identification Series page via USA Baseball's official web site.