EVENTS

18th EBCA Convention 2023 @ Mulhouse (F)

18th EBCA Convention 2023

MULHOUSE (F)

Fri 10 - Sun 12 November 2023
This event has ended.

The 18th annual convention of the European Baseball Coaches Association will take place in the versatile city of Mulhouse, France. The conference will be at the Centre Sportif Régional Alsace. EBCA will have the usual presence of renowned MLB/MiLB and ISG speakers, sponsors and vendors. And plenty of  opportunities to network with other European and international coaches.

LOCATION

Centre Sportif Régional Alsace

5 Rue des Frères Lumière, 68200 Mulhouse, France

Speakers

Reggie Smith - Speaker @ 18th EBCA Convention 2023 - European Baseball Coaches Association - Event

Originally signed by the Minnesota Twins, Reggie was acquired by the Boston Red Sox in 1963. He hit 149 home runs and drove in 536 runs during his seven years with Boston, both team records for a switch hitter. In 1968, he garnered a Gold Glove Award as an outfielder, with 390 putouts, and in 1970, notched an amazing fifteen outfield assists.

Reggie hit 20 or more doubles for nine straight seasons, twice leading the American League. His 314 career home runs placed him fourth on the switch-hitters list when he retired. Reggie appeared in seven All-Star games with the Red Sox, the St. Louis Cardinals (1974-1976), and Los Angeles Dodgers (1976-1981). Reggie played in four World Series, winning in 1981.

After a one-year stint with the San Francisco Giants in 1982, Reggie played two years in Japan for the Yomiuri Giants, before finishing his playing career. The Dodgers brought him back into the organization to be their Minor League Coordinator. Later, Reggie became the Dodgers’ hitting instructor and first base coach. He was instrumental in the development of several Dodger Rookies of the Year, including Hall of Famer, Mike Piazza, as well as Eric Karros, Raul Mondesi and Todd Hollandsworth.

Reggie’s reputation as a coach and teacher didn’t escape the notice of USA Baseball, and in 1999 Reggie helped coach Team USA to a Silver Medal in the Pan Am games, the qualifier for the Olympics. The team was primarily made up of minor leaguers who went on to beat a highly-favored Cuban team to take the Gold Medal in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, with Reggie as their hitting coach.

Director Billy Crystal asked Reggie to be the technical consultant on 61*, the film depicting the 1961 home run race between Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. With precious little time, Reggie trained the stars to literally become the M&M boys.

Today, Reggie consults with major league baseball organizations, offers private and small-group instruction for players of all amateur and professional levels, as well as trains and certifies coaches for various amateur and school baseball leagues around the world.

CJ Beatty - Speaker @ 18th EBCA Convention 2023 - European Baseball Coaches Association - Event

CJ Beatty is a native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA. CJ’s baseball accomplishments led him to be selected in the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. In 2014 he signed a free agent contract to play in the Chicago White Sox organization. After a 6 year professional career CJ retired from playing and was hired by the St. Louis Cardinals as a professional scout and assistant hitting coach.

Currently, Beatty is an international speaker & one of the top baseball and softball speakers in the world. For over a decade, CJ has traveled around the United States, Zürich Switzerland, Canada, the Dominican Republic and Australia hosting camps, clinics, and delivering powerful messages to leadership organizations.

His Social media is where you can find daily motivation to help you move faster towards your dreams and goals. CJ Beatty’s YouTube Channel has millions of views and has reached people in over 220 countries. Lastly, CJ is a positive music artist. You will hear his music at almost every baseball softball event around the world.

Instagram: @cjbeatty44
X (former Twitter): @cjbeatty44

Don Sneddon - Speaker @ 18th EBCA Convention 2023 - European Baseball Coaches Association - Event
Don Sneddon
Alaska Summer Collegiate League

After 32 seasons as the team’s skipper, Sneddon stepped down as the head coach of the Santa Ana College Dons in 2014, marking the end of his record-setting career.

Sneddon’s tenure ends with a career 1,072-383-3 overall record, netting the most wins of all time in California community college history. After breaking the career wins record in 2006 with his 832nd victory (a 2-1 win at Riverside City College on March 21), Sneddon went on to become the first coach to record over 1,000 wins.

Among those 1,072 victories are three state championships and 16 conference championships. Sneddon also led the Dons to the second round of state postseason competition for 25 consecutive seasons from 1988-2012.

His baseball coaching career also included being an assistant coach at California State University, Fullerton 75-76, assistant coach at Santa Ana college 77-81. Sneddon also served as an assistant coach for Team USA in 1992. In 2014 he managed the Colorado Rockies Advanced “A” team in Modesto. In the summer of 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021 Sneddon accepted the offer to become field manager for the Wareham Gatemen of the prestigious Cape Cod Collegiate Summer League. Just one year later, 2018, he won the Cape Cod League Championship.

Sneddon played at California State University, Fullerton and was the conference MVP and the University’s first All American baseball player.

He has recently been selected to manage the Anchorage Bucs in the prestigious Alaska League during the summer of 2024.

Tom O'Connell - Speaker @ 18th EBCA Convention 2023 - European Baseball Coaches Association - Event

The first high school coach ever elected President of the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), Tom O’Connell recently retired after 51 years of coaching baseball. From 1969 – 2000, he coached at Pulaski High School in Milwaukee where his teams won more games than any sport in the school’s history. After retiring from the school as a teacher, he coached the next 15 years at suburban Catholic Central High School in Burlington, Wisconsin where his Hilltoppers won five State Championships while appearing in the State Quarterfinals a record ten straight years. For the last five years of his career, he worked at reviving a program which had fallen on hard times in St. Francis, Wisconsin.

Throughout his career, O’Connell received many accolades including being selected National Coach of the Year three times: in 2004, 2010 and 2011. In 1995, he coached the USA Baseball North Team in the United States Olympic Festival in Colorado, the last of such festivals ever conducted. He was also named Midwest Coach of the Year four times, conference coach of the year on numerous occasions, and has been inducted into five different Halls of Fame including that of the ABCA where in 2007 became only the 16th high school coach to be inducted in its history.

After leading the High School Division of the ABCA from 1984-1996, he was elected an officer of the group and served as President in 2002. He now serves on the Board of Directors and hosts the International Coaches Reception at its annual convention. He presided over the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association for 20 years and in 1991 was named the Wisconsin Man of the Year.

When asked, O’Connell will readily say he is most proud of two of his accomplishments: one is helping develop the ABCA Code of Ethics and chairing a committee which chooses yearly recipients for the Dave Keilitz Ethics in Coaching Award, one of the organizations most prestigious honors, which is presented to active coaches whose careers have embodied the concepts in the ABCA Ethics Code, and the other is his ongoing work in international baseball first as a resident Envoy Coach and for the past 20 years educating coaches with ISG Baseball.

An accomplished author, O’Connell has published three books, Coaching Baseball: Techniques and Tactics, one of the top selling baseball handbooks, Coaching Youth Baseball, a manual for youth coaches, and Play Ball: 100 Baseball Practice Games. He also edited Cincinnati Red’s pitching coach Derek Johnson’s successful Complete Guide to Pitching.

Coach O’Connell is a frequent speaker at clinics around the United States and Europe having presented at coaching clinics in eleven states, eleven European nations and in New Zealand. He is president of ISG Baseball and oversees the organization and planning of its annual winter coaching clinics. O’Connell served as the Lead Envoy Coach in Germany for Major League Baseball beginning in 1993 – spending fifteen of his summers developing players and coaches – and has scouted for the Dodgers, Reds, Phillies and Orioles.

Besides his avocation in baseball, he has been intensely involved with Milwaukee Irish Fest, the largest Irish music festival in the world, serving on its Board of Directors, supervising Festival activities and booking entertainment. He and his wife Paula celebrated their golden anniversary in 2017. They have three grown children and six grandchildren.

Alper Bozkurt - Speaker @ 18th EBCA Convention 2023 - European Baseball Coaches Association - Event
Alper Bozkurt
Elite Youth Sports Coordinator
Untouchables Paderborn, GER

Alper Bozkurt has been heavily involved in the development of baseball youth in Europe—primarily Germany—dating back to 1998.

He holds a Masters in Sports Science and is the Elite Youth Sports Coordinator for the Paderborn Untouchables (GER) and is the Assistant Coach for the U18 German National Team.

To-date, Alper Bozkurt has successfully placed five players from the Paderborn program at appropriate college levels in the U.S. and will be utilizing the state-of-the-art facility in Paderborn to verify the abilities of our European prospects.

Roger Savoldelli - Speaker @ 18th EBCA Convention 2023 - European Baseball Coaches Association - Event
Roger Savoldelli
Coach Swiss Baseball Elite National Team

Roger Savoldelli, an integral figure in Swiss baseball, embarked on his coaching journey in 1996, donning the dual role of player and coach. His dedication to the sport was immediately evident as he became deeply involved in the development of youth baseball programs, working closely with Youth and Sports organizations in Switzerland.

With a versatile coaching career that has spanned both club and national team levels, Savoldelli has played a pivotal role in nurturing baseball talent in Switzerland. His influence extends beyond the field as he has also served as the Pitching Coordinator for all National Teams, contributing to the growth of the sport at the national level.

In 2023, Savoldelli had the honor of coaching at the MLB European Development Tournament, an acknowledgment of his expertise and commitment to the game. His contributions have extended to facility development as well, as he founded the Swiss Baseball Pitching Hitting Lab, the first-ever baseball indoor facility in Switzerland, providing a year-round training ground for aspiring players.

Currently, Roger Savoldelli holds the esteemed position of Head Coach for the 18U team and serves as the Pitching Coach for the Elite Team. In addition to his coaching responsibilities, he wears the hat of Head Coach for the Barracudas Academy Team, demonstrating his multifaceted role in shaping the future of Swiss baseball.
Savoldelli's passion for the game, commitment to player development, and dedication to growing the sport in Switzerland mark him as a key figure in the country's baseball landscape, with a legacy that continues to evolve and inspire new generations of players.

Convention Schedule

Version: 8 Nov 2023

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