PERFECT GAME TO LAUNCH YOUTH DIVISION
Perfect Game USA is recognized as the industry leader in the showcasing and scouting of the nation’s top high school-age baseball talent. With the establishment of Perfect Game Youth, a new organization for top players aged 11-14, Perfect Game plans to establish a foothold in the youth baseball arena.
Perfect Game Youth (PGY) will launch immediately, with two National Invitation Showcase events scheduled for the Christmas holidays in Orlando, Fla., and Riverside, Calif. The events will be by invitation-only and extended to the top 200 prospects in each of the 11-, 12-, 13- and 14-year-old age groups. The 14-year group is limited to players of that age who not currently enrolled in high school.
From those introductory showcases, PG Youth will host events throughout the country on a year-round basis as it becomes actively involved in the development and promotion of the top prospects in each age group. It will focus on programs and events that emphasize instruction, skills testing, education (for both players and parents) and game competition at a national-caliber level.
PG Youth, however, won’t be limited to just the elite young players in the country. There will also be opportunities available for players of all skill levels, both at the recreation level and travel-ball level of competition, to participate in PG Youth Challenger events throughout the country. Through skills testing and related activities, players will be able to measure their ability against their own standards over the course of time, and also relative to other players of differing skills sets.
“Our primary mission is to identify and develop the top youth players in the country, to better prepare them for and expose them to the various levels of participation that lie ahead,” said PG Youth president Tim Dulin, who has been actively involved in the development and instruction of youth players since 1991. “We’ll provide them with the skills they’ll need to eventually participate in Perfect Game’s showcase events and tournaments, and also at the collegiate level and beyond. But we’ll also provide something of substance for young players of all abilities.”
Dulin is a former University of Memphis All-American and played seven years of professional baseball. Over the last 10 years, Dulin has built a reputation throughout the country as one of the leading developers of youth baseball complexes while being instrumental in the growth of travel baseball competition in all youth age groups. His elite Dulin’s Dodgers youth teams have won six national championships with 288 of his former players receiving college scholarships.
Joining Dulin in playing a major role in the development of Perfect Game Youth are Garth Iorg, a nine-year major league veteran with a lengthy coaching resume that includes being the third-base coach of the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2008 National League playoffs, and David West, a 10-year major league veteran.
Much of the PG Youth’s agenda will involve the interaction of youth players with current and former major league players. Most of the activities and events will take place on location at various baseball training sites and competition centers around the country, but players and parents will also be able to access pertinent information on a new website (www.perfectgameyouth.com) dedicated to PG Youth.
They will also have full access to a parallel site operated by Alabama-based Travel Ball Select, an online newsletter and website (www.travelballselect.com) that is geared towards players aged 9-14. Travel Ball Select has been providing national team rankings and identifying All-America players in the 9-14 age groups since 2002. PG Youth will work closely with Travel Ball Select in identifying the nation’s top youth-level prospects.
Perfect Game’s primary mission for almost two decades has been to scout and identify the top prospects of high school age, and to provide a forum—through both regional and national showcases, and national tournaments—for players to be exposed to scouts and college recruiters, while playing against the best competition possible.
“Perfect Game Youth will give youth players a better foundation as they move on to high school baseball and beyond, and it will give us a head start in identifying the top young players in the country that will participate in traditional PG events one day,” said Perfect Game USA president Jerry Ford. “Young players will be given an excellent opportunity to get top-notch instruction from some of the best teachers of young players in the game and a forum to measure their skills, while also getting a greater opportunity to play with and against the top players in the country in their age group.”
The PG Youth’s own independent website is active, and has also been launched as a sub-site on the Perfect Game, PG Crosschecker and Travel Ball Select websites.
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, Please Contact
www.perfectgameyouth.com
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Key Personnel, Perfect Game Youth
Tim Dulin was a two-time All American at the University of Memphis and member of the 1984 U.S. national team. He was the second pick of the Baltimore Orioles in the 1985 baseball draft and played professionally for seven years as a middle infielder. Over the last 10 years, Dulin has built a reputation nationally as one of the top developers of youth baseball complexes while also being instrumental in the growth of travel baseball competition in youth age groups. He has also coached and trained 20 All-Americans and 46 players who have gone on to professional careers. His elite Dulin’s Dodgers travel teams have won six national championships with 288 of his players receiving college scholarships.
Garth Iorg was drafted in the eighth round in 1973 by the New York Yankees out of a California high school. He was taken in the American League expansion draft by the Toronto Blue Jays in 1977 and began a nine-year career in the major leagues a year later, all with the Toronto Blue Jays. Iorg also managed at every level of the minor leagues for the Blue Jays and served as a major league coach for three years in Toronto. He currently serves as the third-base coach and infield coordinator for the Milwaukee Brewers. Iorg has three sons who have all played Division I baseball and been drafted.
David West was selected in the fourth round of the 1983 draft after graduating from Craigmont High School in Memphis. He made his major league pitching debut in 1998 and went on to spend 10 years in the majors, with stints with the Twins, Phillies and Red Sox. He won a World Series ring with the Twins in 1991 and also pitched for the Phillies in the 1993 World Series.
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