Baseball New Zealand is excited to announce the National Showcase, the event is tailored for best of the best young athletes aged 15 to 18, and is set to take place from December 7th to 10th in Tauranga. This showcase promises to be an unparalleled opportunity for these athletes to enhance their skills, engage in the highest level of junior gameplay on our shores and start to set the new direction of Baseball New Zealand’s Performance Pathways.  

Newly appointed Chair of Baseball New Zealand, Scott Drinkwater said.  “National showcases represent a fantastic opportunity for New Zealand’s best young players to measure the outputs of their hard work in an environment focused on development. With our recent investment in data tracking technology, we can now measure our athletes against the best players in the world, and quickly provide measurable insights that players can easily understand and incorporate these learnings into their training.  

As an NSO, we have listened to our community and committed to creating more development opportunities throughout the country. We have seen a number of local players using international showcases as a way to progress further in their baseball journey, with some fantastic opportunities created as a result. By providing similar events nationally, it enables more of our community to experience a showcase environment, display their amazing baseball talents, and be provided with clear focus areas for on-going development, all while competing in an awesome environment with friends that love playing Baseball just as much as them.”  

National Showcase Overview:  

The Baseball NZ National Showcase is an invitation-only event for identified players throughout NZ. The Showcase is designed with the sole purpose of fostering skill development, game play, and data collection for young athletes. For four action-packed days, participants will undergo testing, skill development drills, and engage in exhilarating game play. This showcase is not just an ordinary event; it is a vital step in the selection process for the NZU18 World Cup team and future national teams and squads.  

 This showcase is not only about honing athletic prowess; it's about discovering the next generation of sporting stars and offering them the resources and opportunities they need to excel on the world stage. This year‘s showcase as well as future events, will be a part of the selection process for our National Teams and Performance Pathway Programs.  “I am incredibly excited to be able to put this event on for our athletes, personally this is a key point in our player development as a country.  We are looking to take baseball to the next level and those who are involved in this event are next in line to take their baseball up a notch.  I am excited to see the best of our young athletes compete against each other, set their baseline baseball data profiles for on-going monitoring and begin to build their baseball dreams." says Connar O'Gorman - BAseball NZ National Performance & Pathways Manager.

"For us to take the leap and have success on the international stage, a competitive environment on our shore is vital to  player development,” says O’Gorman.

Baseball New Zealand is excited to be working with Tauranga City Baseball Club in bringing this event to Tauranga. The location offers untapped opportunities for growth in the game of baseball in the local area. As well as a Holiday destination for most over the summer, Tauranga and the wider Bay of Plenty region has experienced extensive growth in the past few years. With this population growth, Tauranga City Baseball Club is driving participation in baseball at the grassroots level and Baseball NZ is keen to support our smaller regions in their growth.  

“Bringing such events into the region promotes the game, supports local development aspects and demonstrates what can be achieved in baseball if you decide to pick up a bat or glove and give it a go. Having a National premier youth event will also serve as a fantastic opportunity to watch great baseball being played in the region.  

Bringing our National Showcase event into Tauranga also serves as a lead into Tauranga City Baseball Club hosting the National Baseball Festival in 2025. Tauranga City are one of many small clubs taking big bites to grow the game locally” said Baseball NZ CEO Meg Crockett.  

Tauranga City Baseball President, Roger Marshman said “We were very excited to be asked to host the Baseball NZ National Showcase event in our backyard and sunny shores.   

We are looking forward to being able to show the local community the game of baseball and how far baseball has come in New Zealand.  And for the younger players, what can be achieved and accomplished right here in NZ if you train and work hard." said Marshman. 

The event will be open to the public to come and watch gameplay and various training sessions. If you are in or around Mount Maunganui, Papamoa or the wider Tauranga region or simply want to come on down and watch great baseball, the National Showcase event will be on from 7th to 10th December at Gordon Spratt Park, Papamoa, home of Tauranga City Baseball Club.  

Key Event Details:  

Location: Tauranga City Baseball Club, Gordon Spratt Park, Papamoa  

Date: December 7th to 10th 2023

Article added: Wednesday 18 October 2023