The second annual European Baseball Winter League (EBWL) is scheduled to run from November 19-27 on the Spanish island of Tenerife, with 48 U23 players from across Europe training in the morning and playing games in the afternoon and evening. The Royal Spanish Baseball and Softball Federation and the Canary Islands Baseball and Softball Federation will be co-organizing the event.
Néstor Pérez, Manny Olivera, and Peter Caliendo, whose team triumphed in last year’s tournament, will be coaching the three squads of 16 players each.
Jesús Lisarri, President of the Royal Spanish Baseball and Softball Federation, sees the EWBL playing a key role in the development of European baseball: “The EBWL is a very important event for the development of European talent. We believe in this program and invite all European Federations to be part of this initiative. The quality of the instructors, the organisation and Tenerife’s weather guarantee the league’s success. I am very happy that the European Baseball Winter League is being developed in Spain. In the future, the winter activities could be carried out in other parts of the country, and we could replicate the model for softball.”
The Czech Republic, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Russia, Slovakia, and Spain were all represented at last year’s tournament, which consisted of a double round-robin preliminary round with a championship game to crown the winner.