New Balance Baseball and the Future Stars Series are excited to extend their partnership once again, and it’s a big one. This extension is one that will take both sides into a second decade together.
The announcement was made on Wednesday by New Balance Baseball Future Stars Series president and CEO, Jeremy Booth.
“We’ve been fortunate to have such great partners in New Balance,” Booth said.
“Fortunate isn’t really strong enough, and truthfully I don’t have the words for it. We’ve been through a helluva road together to date, and it’s just going to get better. This type of relationship and trust is rare, and to be able to have this much open communication and confidence in each other with no secrets is an indescribable feeling.”
The Future Stars Series has evolved significantly since the beginning of what’s become a true partnership in 2016, as has New Balance Baseball itself; some of the top players in the game have joined the NB family since the inception of the Future Stars Series, including Michael Harris II, Francisco Lindor and Shohei Ohtani.
The series has also helped identify future NB athletes who are considered to be among the brightest young stars and top prospects in the game, like 2023 MLB debutee Kyren Paris, Ricky Tiedemann, Robby Snelling and Tink Hence among many other alums.
The common thread throughout the New Balance roster of athletes is their ability push through physical limits and ensure a lasting impact within the world of sports but also in the communities in which they are a part.
New Balance, headquartered in Boston, MA, has the following purpose: Independent since 1906, we empower people through sport and craftsmanship to create positive change in communities around the world. New Balance MADE U.S. footwear contains a domestic value of 70% or more. MADE makes up a limited portion of New Balance’s U.S. sales. New Balance owns five factories in New England and one in Flimby, U.K. New Balance employs more than 7,000 associates around the globe, and in 2021 reported worldwide sales of $4.4 billion.
As for the Future Stars Series, what largely started as a series of national tournaments and the inaugural International Week event held seven years ago has developed into one of the most heavily anticipated schedules in the amateur baseball community, with Regional Combines and Scout Days serving as starting points for a comprehensive list of signature events at some of the top facilities in the nation…and beyond.
International Week itself has evolved into the Main Event, one that’s set for an eighth year, but first at the Houston Astros’ Minute Maid Park as part of a long-term agreement with the city of Houston after having been previously been held at Fenway Park and Citi Field, among other venues.
That event alone has helped players like Bo Naylor, Grayson Rodriguez, Paris, Cam Collier, Daniel Espino, Dylan Crews, Zac Veen, Mick Abel, Hence, Tiedemann, Drew Gilbert, Henry Bolte, Cole Phillips, Brock Jones, Tommy Troy and seemingly countless others play in front of major-league scouts and executives prior to being drafted.
This year, however, the calendar starts with a new signature event. The Future Stars Series Showdown debuts from January 19-21 at Globe Life Field, home of the defending World Series Champion Texas Rangers, in Arlington. The unique format will feature this past year’s Main Event teams squaring off against some of the top JUCO teams in the country in a three-day event; set to participate are San Jacinto College, Blinn College, Northwest Florida State College, Navarro College and New Mexico Junior College.
After a three-year hiatus, the highly-anticipated World Combine returns, but is set for a domestic setting, to be hosted by IMG Academy from May 27-June 1. Originally set for IMG before the pandemic and ultimately first held in 2020 in the Bahamas, the event, which helped get players like Michael Arroyo, Kristin Munroe, Janero Miller and others seen, is set to have 150 international players make up the rosters, and is sure to be a highly-anticipated few days on the scouting calendar.
The annual NorCal World Series follows that from June 7-9, and will be followed by the return of the Underclass Combines and National Combine, all set for Vanderbilt; The 2028 grads will kick it off from June 26-28, 2025’s follow them from July 8-11 for selection to see who plays at Minute Maid Park, and the 2026’s and 2027’s wrap it up between July 22-25. Those will partially overlap with the National Tournaments — which will return to a standalone format this year — with a tentative schedule set for dates in Tennessee in July as follows; July 16-21: Class of 2026, July 23-28: Class of 2025, July 31- August 4: Classes of 2027-2028.
Additionally, the Underclass Elite returns for another year, set to return to Fenway Park after debuting in the Boston area this past year. Scheduled for August 30-September 1, the Future Stars Series makes a signature event debut in Boston College with an opening workout there, then heads to the home of the Boston Red Sox for a doubleheader before wrapping up at Delta Dental Stadium, home of the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats, for the finale of the series, which may expand to five games this year with the potential of a game at Delta Dental on Friday night.
That event, set to host some of the top 2026 grads in the country, will be the pipeline to going international once again, when the Caribbean Classic returns the following weekend. The third-year event will return to the format of domestic players facing Latin America and Caribbean teams, and further details will be set on a location in the coming weeks. It is set to be held from September 6-8.
Lastly, the 2027 and 2028 grads won’t be left out, as the Underclass Premier and Fresh 50 will once again be combined into one jam-packed, must-see weekend from September 13-15, with the Future Stars Series slated to return to Hartford’s Dunkin’ Donuts Park for the event.
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