With the organizational meetings for the New Balance Baseball Future Stars Series still in full swing down in Houston, some details have emerged regarding the upcoming international calendar for 2022.
— The Future Stars Series will be headed to the Dominican Republic in April, and also have involvement with events with Italy that month as well before heading to Mexico in May.
— The World Combine is set to return in October, which will be immediately followed by the debut of the pandemic-delayed Caribbean Classic.
— Players from the Dominican, Bahamas, Italy, Venezuela, Netherlands, Aruba, Panama, Korea, Taiwan and multiple other countries and territories are expected to make up the rosters at these events, including the World Combine and Caribbean Classic.
— Through the Future Stars Series Foundation, conversations are ongoing but not yet finalized for the selection of a team of United States-born players to make up a 16-Under Team at the Caribbean Classic. Dates to many of these events will be finalized and announced in the coming days as the buildup to a full return to an international calendar takes shape.
“As we all remember, just days before the first ever World Combine was to take place, the planet was struck by a pandemic,” said FSS president, CEO and founder Jeremy Booth.
“We’re grateful that we were able to reinvigorate the event in Bahamas later that year, they were gracious hosts, and many players from that event have signed major-league contracts like Cherif Neymour, Toby Simmons, Michael Arroyo, Steven Adderley and Kristin Munroe. That’s something we take a lot of pride in. Now, in 2022 in a world where we’re learning to live with COVID, we’re able to return to our global relationships and partnerships that we value so much, and continue to expand our reach across the globe. It’s truly great to get back to our partners around the world.
“The ability to work with people across all of these countries is best for a player driven model and something we’re very much so looking forward to continuing. With efforts led by Hall of Fame scout Gordon Blakeley and his incredible list of international accomplishments, this is something that’s very easy for all of us to get behind, and we can’t wait to see the global initiative of New Balance Baseball and the Future Stars Series international calendar kick off in full once again.”
