OTTAWA- Over the weekend it was announced that the 2013 IBAF 18U World Championship will take place in Taichung (Chinese Taipei) in the latter part of August/early September.
The announcement was made in Cartagena, Colombia as the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) Executive Committee held its first meeting of 2013.
Canada will head to the event as the defending silver medalist having won the medal last September in Seoul, South Korea where the United Sates claimed gold.
The 18U World Championship has traditionally taken place in even numbered years, but with the recent changes to the IBAF age-structure, this championship will now take place in odd-numbered years.
Five players who helped Canada to the silver medal last summer - Gareth Morgan (Toronto, ON), Josh Naylor (Toronto, ON), Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, ON), Travis Seabrooke (Peterborough, ON) and Owen Spiwak (Mississauga, ON) – are eligible to return in 2013.
Preparations for the world championship have already begun as the Junior National Team held a training camp at ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando last October to participate in the Fall Instructional League. The team will return to Orlando in April to play against MLB extended Spring Training Clubs before travelling to the Dominican Republic in May for the annual tour through the Dominican Summer League.
Other highlights from the executive committee meetings over the weekend included: a detailed report on the baseball-softball merger and the associated bid to be on the 2020 Olympic Games Programme was presented and discussed thoroughly, and a rule to abolish home plate collisions at the 18U event was instituted, the IBAF leadership announced.
