On August 15th, the highly anticipated 2024 MLB CUP Youth Baseball Open · Spring Championship Finals was grandly opened at Jinjiang Football Training Center in Fujian. The event focused on the U10 and U12 age groups, and brought together 26 top teams from all over the country to compete for the final championship honor for four days.
The finals of this event will also be broadcast simultaneously on Douyin, WeChat Channels, Bilibi********uin Live, and Weibo platforms, allowing viewers to enjoy this youth baseball feast and witness the coronation of the new champion no matter where they are.
The opening of the passion, the moment of baseball youth blood
This year's MLB CUP Spring Finals are hosted by MLB Major League Baseball, organized by MLB China Youth Baseball League Organizing Committee, Jinjiang Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, Lingyuan Street Office, Anhai Town People's Government, and Jinjiang Cultural Tourism Group.
The 2024 MLB CUP Spring Tournament started in April and spanned 20 cities, attracting more than 500 teams and more than 7,000 young players to sign up enthusiastically. After hundreds of games in the Spring Tournament, 14 teams in the U10 category and 12 teams in the U12 category have passed all the way and gathered at the Jinjiang Football Training Center for the final showdown. They will first draw lots for a group round-robin competition to determine the top eight teams in their respective categories, and then enter the knockout stage to determine the top four and compete for the final championship glory.
Innovative activities, swing the bat to remember the wonderful moments
In his opening speech, Wu Zunyi, deputy mayor of Jinjiang City, specifically mentioned: "In recent years, the Jinjiang Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government have adhered to the promotion of the city through competition, the promotion of production through competition, and the benefit of the people through competition. They have hosted a number of international and domestic influential boutique events such as basketball, football, and e-sports. Sports activities have been integrated into the lives of ordinary people and have become a shining brand of Jinjiang Sports City. Baseball is a team sport that integrates integrity, confrontation, and rich tactics. In particular, the MLB CUP Youth Baseball Open is an important event for MLB to promote baseball culture and cultivate new baseball stars in China. The landing of the finals in Jinjiang will surely attract more new forces to love baseball culture and invest in sports."
"As an event, the significance of the MLB CUP Junior Baseball Open goes far beyond the competition itself. It is an influential cultural and educational exchange platform through which we are committed to passing on MLB's cutting-edge ideas, professional skills, rich resources and excellent service to young baseball fans in China. We expect them to not only be exposed to international standards of baseball skills, in-depth learning of global baseball rules, but also to experience the diversity and inclusiveness of baseball culture."
At the opening ceremony, the players, leaders and guests present brought us an exciting kickoff ceremony, marking the official start of the 2024 MLB CUP Spring Finals.
MLB CUP has prepared a special gift for the players participating in the Spring Finals: customized personal exclusive star cards. These star cards have been fully upgraded in design, using the players' wonderful moments in the game as the card surface, leaving each player with a precious memorial dedicated to their baseball career.
Two innovative challenges, "Swing! Challenge Otani" and "Otani Second Knife Stream Challenge", were also held on site. Young players used professional league-level data testing equipment to challenge themselves for the longest shooting distance and fastest pitching speed.
Shohei Otani has become a superstar in MLB with his outstanding baseball skills and unique identity as a "two-knife stream" - both an excellent pitcher and an excellent hitter. Not only has he won the MVP twice and been selected as an All-Star for four consecutive years, but he also broke the record for the highest single contract amount in professional sports with a 10-year contract of $700 million. The challenge event at the finals is not only an opportunity to pay tribute to a great player like Shohei Otani, but also a journey of self-challenge and self-discovery. Through interaction with professional equipment, young players can more intuitively understand their own strength, and use precise data analytics to help them set goals and develop training plans, so as to continue to improve on the baseball road.
Assembling in Jinjiang, the future of Chinese baseball is promising
This year, MLB CUP set up the glorious stage of the finals in Jinjiang, Fujian, with a long history. In recent years, baseball exchanges between Fujian and Taiwan have been frequent, and baseball in Fujian Province has made significant development. Jinjiang City has achieved remarkable results in the promotion of baseball and youth sports education, making positive contributions to the popularization and development of baseball at the local and even national levels, and demonstrating the important role of baseball in promoting the physical and mental development of young people and strengthening cross-strait cultural exchanges. In April this year, MLB joined hands with the Fujian Provincial Education Department and the Baseball Association to successfully hold the 2024 MLB FIRST PITCH "Enlightenment Baseball" coach training camp and MLB FIRST PITCH public welfare baseball course in Jinjiang City. Today, the MLB CUP finals are also a sign that Jinjiang City is making every effort to promote the development of baseball and its industry, and contribute to the prosperity of Chinese youth baseball.
In May this year, the "Student Athletic Ability Level Assessment Standards" issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation included soft baseball and softball courses. The introduction of relevant policies has provided fertile soil for the popularization of soft baseball and softball on campuses. In this regard, Qi Dong said: "The release of soft baseball and softball curriculum standards reflects the country's emphasis on this sport, indicating that in the future, more schools and more students will be exposed to soft baseball and softball. This policy will also bring more fresh blood to Chinese baseball in the future. More baseball teenagers will join MLB CUP and show their style on this stage. We firmly believe that through our efforts, we can unearth and cultivate batch after batch of new forces and outstanding talents for Chinese baseball."
The ****** Finals are in full swing, and at the same time, the 2024 MLB World Little League Classic is about to kick **f. The highly anticipated matchup will be staged at the historic Bowman Field in Williamsport, Pennsylvania on Sunday, August 18 at 7:00 pm (Eastern Time). The two veteran powerhouses ** the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers will be present. At that time, MLB will invite the young players participating in the Little Baseball League to come and watch the game and interact closely with MLB players. At 7:10 am ******* time on August 19, the Douyin platform will have an exclusive live broadcast ** the event, allowing baseball fans around the world to share this exciting moment. The World Little League is an international youth baseball organization dedicated to providing baseball activities for children and adolescents ** all ages. The World Little League holds a number ** events every year, not only providing a platform for young players to compete, but also promoting the popularity ** baseball around the world. Since the first event was successfully held in 2017, this will be the seventh major event ** the World Little League Classic.
The finals of the 2024 MLB CUP Youth Baseball Open Spring Tournament have officially kicked off. We look forward to all the young players running on the field, chasing their dreams bravely, and letting their youth shine on the green field of baseball. Looking forward to this event, it will inject new vitality into the development of Chinese baseball, cultivate more outstanding baseball talents, and promote Chinese baseball to a broader stage.
