This summer Baseball Ireland will host the U18 Baseball European Championship Qualifier on 27-30 July 2023 at the International Baseball Centre (IBC) in Ashbourne, Co Meath. The host nation Ireland, will compete against Poland, Croatia and Slovakia in a hotly anticipated tournament over 4 days. This will be the culmination of the Ashbourne International Baseball Festival, run by the Ashbourne Baseball Club, which kicks off July 6 and will feature the Irish Baseball Academy team, the President’s Nine team (from the Irish League), the Buccaneers UK, and an Australia Select team.Baseball Ireland and Ashbourne Baseball Club made a successful bid to host the event at the IBC in 2022 and preparations are in full swing ahead of the tournament.The same location successfully hosted the national squads of Finland, Greece, Ireland, Norway, and Slovenia at the Baseball European C-Pool Qualifier back in 2018.World Baseball & Softball Confederation press (WBSC) release:The U18 Baseball European Championship Qualifier, starting July 27, will be streamed live and promoted globally across multiple channels, including across the EU and the US, with games expected to be viewed worldwide. The last time Ireland hosted such an event in 2018, an estimated 700k live stream views were recorded, and it was publicized by Failte Ireland, RTE and Dublin radio stations. Attendance at the tournament over the week is expected to exceed several thousand spectators. Baseball Ireland welcomes interest and support for the tournament in the form of spectator attendance, online viewers and sponsorship arrangements.The World Baseball Softball Confederation Europe (WBSC Europe) has signed an extensive TV distribution agreement for its events with Maybacks Global Entertainment (USA). This agreement covers all European Cup tournaments.For further information or sponsorship queries please contact Sean Mitchell, President of Baseball Ireland at: u18euros@baseballireland.ie or 087 283 7494.
