Jason Ormond, Whitney Young High School (Class of 2009) is playing for USA Athletes International representing the United States as a player and ambassador in the 2008 Torneo Citta di Rimini Baseball Tournament in Rimini, Italy. The coaches are David Vince of Clearwater High School and Tracy Paulton of Pinnellas Park High School. Both high schools are in Florida.
Coach Vince has 421 career wins with coaching experience on the international, college, high school level and has been a ten time coach of the year recipient. His record includes 10 district champion teams, 8 district runner-up teams, two state final four teams, 1 state runner-up team, and 1 college conference championship. He has coached baseball in Holland, Spain, Czech Republic, Australia, Sweden, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii. The roster includes players from Florida, Illinois, New Jersey and Connecticut.
Coach Paulton is the Pitching Coach at Pinellas Park High School. His experience includes being the assistant coach at nationally ranked Seminole High School, 6 years as the assistant coach at Countryside High School, where he worked under former major leaguer, Darnell Coles. He also has 10 years of playing experience above the high school level (college, semi-pro), and has worked baseball camps for Florida State, and All-Star Baseball. He is also the owner operator of Super Skill Baseball Academy in Florida.
The team will meet and travel from New York Kennedy International Airport to Rome, Italy on July 8 and then travels north to Rimini which is the tournament venue, located on the Adriatic coast 200 miles south of Venice. The tournament is hosted by the Rimini Pirates Baseball Club, Serie A1 of the Italian Professional Baseball League. The USA Athletes organization was established in 1991 and provides athletes the opportunity to experience international competition as well as the history and culture of another country. The 16 man roster team is scheduled to play the 18-U Italian National Team. USA Team Athletes must sign a release as the sponsoring organization retains all television and video rights.
After playing baseball Italian style, the team will visit Milan and Florence before returning to the United States on July 17, 2008.
Visit www.usaai.org