by www.baseballeurope.com, announcement Major League Baseball International
Major League Baseball is pleased to announce that the 2009 MLB European Academy will take place at the Italian Olympic Training Center in Tirrenia from August 11 – 29. The Academy will once again bring together the best young players in Europe and Africa to work for three-weeks with top Major League coaches and instructors. Previous editions of the Academy have been very successful – with 28 players signed to professional contracts – and the 2009 Academy will look to continue that excellence.
As in previous years, Major League Baseball will hold try-outs for 15 – 18 year olds who are considered strong candidates for the Academy. The sessions, run by MLB staff and scouts from the MLB Scouting Bureau, will offer players a chance to demonstrate their skills in front of professional evaluators. They will be limited in size and open only to national team players who have been nominated by their federations.
Sessions will run from April 26 – May 7 at seven locations around Europe:
– April 26, 13:00 – Stockholm Baseball Club (Stockholm, Sweden)*
– April 29, 15:00 – Rouen Huskies Baseball Club (Rouen, France)
– April 30, 15:00 – Italian Olympic Training Center (Tirrenia, Italy)
– May 2, 12:00 – Montjuic Olympic Training Centre (Barcelona, Spain)
– May 5, 13:00 & 16:00 – Krc Altron Baseball Club (Prague, Czech Republic)
– May 6, 15:00 – Amsterdam Pirates Baseball Stadium (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
– May 7, 16:00 – Bad Homburg Hornets Baseball Club (Bad Homburg, Germany)
* The session in Stockholm will be run by MLB Europe staff without members of the MLB Scouting Bureau.
Players interested in attending the try-outs should contact their national federation for more information.