Team Connecticut Announces Tryouts

Press Release -

Ten National Championships, a three-time national runner-up and a total of 25 top three finishes nationally to go along with 63 top 10s and 11 Super East titles.

That, however, is just scratching the surface of one of country’s premiere and most successful amateur baseball programs.

Over the past 16 years, 133 First Team All-Americans, 10 Tournament MVPs, 120 Golden Arm and 120 Golden Bat award winners have come out of the TCB Baseball program — which includes Team Connecticut Baseball, the Team Connecticut Blue Jays and the Team Connecticut Blaze.

A total of 50 players who have sported a Team Connecticut uniform have heard their name called in the Major League Baseball Draft.

The opportunity to become a part of the growing Team Connecticut Baseball tradition has arrived. TCB is holding its early tryouts for its 12-and-under teams on Feb. 13th from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tryouts will be held at the Connecticut Baseball Academy, located at 525 Burnside Avenue, East Hartford, CT 06108.

The 12/u program consists of three teams: 10/u, 11/u and 12/u. Teams are selected on the basis of giving each chosen player the opportunity to succeed at the appropriate level. The emphasis on all teams is overall player development.

Twelve-and-under teams will have a break from the middle of June to mid-July to allow for play in Little League All-Stars. Teams will also have the opportunity to compete in the Super East Baseball League, which plays 70-foot bases and allows for leading and stealing. Selected players will compete in both regional and national tournaments as well — Cooperstown Dreams Park and the AAU National Championship among others.

For those that are unable to make the early season tryout, a Pre-season Baseball Camp/Tryout will be held at the beginning of March. It will consist of three consecutive weekends with approximately three hours of high-end instruction from former and present professional players, college coaches, former and present collegiate players and the TCB 10-time National Championship coaching staff.

Players not wishing to tryout for the team can still attend the preseason workouts as a means to prepare themselves for their upcoming seasons. The cost to attend the Preseason Camp/Tryout is $150.

Preseason Camp/Tryouts is currently ongoing for TCB’s 13/u and 14/u teams as well as Team Connecticut’s high school age divisions (15/u through 18/u). For information regarding these camps/tryouts, contact TCB at 860-282-0755 or visit

www.teamconnecticutbaseball.com.

"The excitement of tryouts every year is something that we all look forward to," Team Connecticut Director and TCB National Championship coach Dan Kennedy said. "Our tryouts serve two purposes — a preseason high school camp for players looking to get ready for their high school tryouts and tryouts for our TCB summer travel program."

It’s a program that stands as the dominant force in the Connecticut AAU baseball scene. TCB has won more than half of the State Championships in all age brackets. It boasts a total 40.

Team Connecticut has earned the reputation as a program that builds more than just youth baseball champions, but an organization that breeds college and professional caliber ballplayers. Over the past two seasons alone, Team Connecticut products have committed to American International, Bates, Boston College, Brown, Coastal Carolina, UConn, Duquesne, East Carolina, Eastern Connecticut State, Elon, Florida International, Florida Southern, Fordham, Franklin Pierce, Harvard, Kansas, Maine, Maryland-Baltimore County, UMass, Miami-Ohio, Michigan, Ole Miss, Northeastern, Ohio, Oregon State, Quinnipiac, South Carolina Upstate, Southern Cal, St. Louis, Stanford, Tampa, Trinity, UNC Charlotte, Vermont, Western Kentucky and Wofford.

Five TCB alums were selected in the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft while two others were picked to play for Team USA.

"It’s great to see so many great players interacting with our staff every day," Kennedy added.

TCB Baseball organizes teams in 10 to 18 year old divisions which compete regionally and nationally in various cities across the United States. In 1994, Team Connecticut's 13-and-under team won the gold medal in Des Moines, Iowa and three years later in Chickasha, Okla. In 1999, National Championships were brought home with the 16-and-under team winning in Oklahoma City, Okla., and the 18-and-under team winning in Cocoa, Fla. In 2002, TCB’s 17-and-under team won the National Championship in Bourbonnais, Ill. TCB captured two National titles in 2008, with the 18-and-under team winning in Nashville, Tenn. and the 15-and-under team winning in Orlando, Fla. Two more titles came in 2009, with the 18-and-unders winning back-to-back titles in Nashville, and the 16-and-under team winning in Viera, Fla.

The goal of TCB Baseball is not only to include instruction and competition, but also serve as a place where the development of friendships and memories that will last a lifetime can be formed. The program also teaches the importance of setting goals and striving to achieve and exceed those goals. And most important, TCB offers an alternative to alcohol, drugs and other temptations that face today’s youth on a daily basis.

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For more info regarding the Team Connecticut Baseball, its tryouts, its history or to set up an interview with TCB directors, coaches or staff, contact TCB at 860-282-0755 or visit www.teamconnecticutbaseball.com.