The Flower Mound Youth Sports Association announced Wednesday that a nationally sanctioned championship tournament will replace the American Amateur Youth Baseball Alliance (AAYBA) Texas World Series, beginning next summer.
Flower Mound hosted the AAYBA World Series for two weeks every summer for the last 15 years. That tournament, though, “ran its course and the owner decided to pull out of North Texas and return to St. Louis,” according to a FMYSA news release. “We wish him the very best and are thankful for 15 years of hosting a truly great youth baseball World Series event.”
Tracy Black, FMYSA’s general manager and tournament director, said Wednesday that the organization sought a national sanctioning body to replace the AAYBA’s Flower Mound tournament. The organization announced that the Keep Calm & Baseball On/VFG Sports Performance National Championship youth baseball tournament will now be held in Flower Mound, during the same two-week period at the same locations as before. National Championship Sports is now the sanctioning body, and both Wilson Sports and Dick’s Sporting Goods will remain as title sponsors of the event.
“This means our opening day events at beautiful Bakersfield Park will remain the envy of the youth baseball community,” the organization’s news release said. “In fact, we plan to make the Opening Day experience even more spectacular!”
VFG Sports Performance is one of the largest D-BAT franchisees in the country, and the locally owned D-BAT Lewisville location has been a longtime sponsor of FMYSA.
Black said having a national sanctioning body “is a big deal for us,” putting the event “on a bigger scale.”
“It will give us a lot more exposure,” Black said. “Every team in North Texas will know about the opportunity to attend the national championship.”
FMYSA is looking forward to hosting a “World Class Event.”
“We are super excited to have this event now under our control and management,” Black said. “We’re excited for what the future holds.”