OTTAWA, ON – Baseball Canada announced today the roster that will represent Canada at the Final Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Taiwan from March 7-15.
Among the 24 players selected by Baseball Canada for the event are five former members of the 2004 Olympic Team who are 2B Stubby Clapp (Windsor, ON), LHP Mike Kusiewicz (Ottawa, ON), OF Adam Stern (London, ON), OF Ryan Radmanovich and OF Jeremy Ware (Guelph, ON).
Also among the players selected, 17 will be returning from the team that represented Canada at the IBAF World Cup this past November. The roster will be a mix of experience and youth.
“We are very excited about the blend of experience and young rising talent on this roster,” says Greg Hamilton, Director and Head Coach of National Teams. “With an Olympic bid at stake, we anticipate a very competitive tournament and look forward to challenging ourselves against some of the world’s best baseball playing nations.”
The Olympic Qualifier will feature eight countries in a round-robin formatted tournament where the top three teams will earn the final spots for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing this summer.
Canada will be competing for one of those three spots with Korea, Chinese Taipei, Australia, Mexico, Germany, South Africa and Spain. If Canada qualifies, they will join Cuba, United States, Japan, Netherlands and host China who have already qualified.
Before heading over to Taiwan, the Senior National Team will make its way to Brisbane, Australia from February 24th to March 4th for a training camp and exhibition series against the Australian National Team at their national training complex.
Click here to see the entire 24-man roster and schedule of the Senior National Team for the Final Olympic Qualifier.
