With six games, the 53rd National Youth Baseball Championship, the Savings Bank Cup, in honor of the former Bocatoreño player Marlon Mesa, gets underway this Saturday the 15th.
The opening match will be in charge of the Panama Metro and Coclé teams, scheduled to be played from 7:00 p.m. at the José Antonio Remón Cantera de Aguadulce stadium, but with an opening ceremony that begins at 5:30 p.m. late.
In other matches on the first date, (January 15) Colón meets West at the Horacio Mena stadium at 7:30 pm, Chiriquí goes against Darién at the Metetí stadium, Herrera against West at the Glorias Deportivas Baruenses stadium in Puerto Armüelles, Panama East against Bocas del Toro at Calvin Byron and Los Santos against Veraguas at Omar Torrijos de Santiago.
On Sunday 16, Oeste goes against Darién in Metetí, Chiriquí meets Metro at the Rod Carew stadium, Colón faces Coclé in Remón Cantera, Panama East against West in Glorias Deportivas, Herrera against Veraguas in Omar Torrijos and Los Santos against Bocas del Toro at the Calvin Byron.
Championship System
The National Youth Baseball Tournament will be played in two groups, on a schedule of two rounds in your group and an intergroup round. The groups were as follows, in A are: Metro, Coclé, Colón, Panamá Oeste, Chiriquí and Darién. In Group B are: Herrera, Los Santos, Veraguas, Occidente, Panamá Este and Bocas del Toro.
In the Regular Series, a total of 96 games are scheduled, where baseball will be played in the stadiums where the teams are located.
The Round of 8 teams will also be played, in which the best 8 of the regular phase, a semifinal round and a final phase classify. The round of 8 qualifiers will be the best of five games, while the semifinal and final will be the best of 7 games.
It was also unanimously approved that at the end of the regular round the 8 teams that advance to the round of 8 will be able to choose two reinforcements per team, and this time there will be a draw to determine the order of the pikes.
It is optional for teams to select native players from their provinces, belonging to the 40-player roster.
For the 2022 National Youth Championship there are also games scheduled at the Rod Carew stadium, which will be the home of the Colón and Panama Metro teams.
The use of loans was also approved in the figures of the players who will be playing in other provinces outside their origin. All loaned players must return to their provinces at the end of the tournament.
Teams that qualified from first to fourth place in the 2021 Youth Tournament will be able to have 2 players on loan, from 5th to 8th they will have 3 players on loan and from 9th to 12th they have the option of 4 players on loan.
Biosafety Measures
Esteban Carrasco, Administrative Manager of Fedebeis said that a request was sent for the use of 100% capacity taking into account that all those who enter the stadium present at least two doses of vaccines against COVID-19, with a minimum of 14 days ” he explained.
Fedebeis will be attached to Executive Decree No. 852 of September 29, 2021, published in Official Gazette No. 29386-B that establishes the capacity issued for crowded activities, due to Covid-19, for which the capacity is used only and exclusively 100% with 100% vaccinated people, who must present a vaccination card at the entrance or a green QR code at the time of entering the stadium.
With the measure adopted, social distancing will not be required, but the mandatory use of a mask will be required and hand washing and the use of antibacterial gel are recommended.
The only way to comply with the National Youth Baseball Tournament is to keep the teams in a protected health environment system, including athletes, coaching staff and administrators must be kept in a guarded health fence.
“We have already done it, together we have achieved successful tournaments and it is the only way to carry out the youth tournament strictly under the bubble phenomenon,” said Dr. Saúl Saucedo, Fedebeis medical coordinator.
He also said that all teams that are going to participate in the championship must present, within 72 hours before the inauguration, mandatory PCR tests to the entire roster or team template.
The Executive Decree that remains in force, which requires the mandatory use of a mask, will be rigorously applied to all team members in buses, dormitories and hotels. The use of a mask on the playground will be more flexible.
The youth player who is infected with COVID-19 during the current tournament, will be withdrawn from it immediately and may return to his original activities fully recovered 24 hours before the last date of the regular series and must be officially registered with the board of directors of Fedebeis.
Entrance tickets:
Admission tickets for the regular series will be at 4.00 balboas with an additional 15% surcharge stipulated by the sales agency.
Tickets can be purchased through the website www.boletosfedebeis.com.
Inaugural act:
The opening ceremony of the 53rd National Youth Baseball Championship, Savings Bank Cup, will be strictly one hour, starting at 5:30 pm with a musical show, presentation of special guests.
There will be a religious invocation, then the words of welcome from the President of the Coclé Provincial Baseball League, Mr. José Carranza and the swearing-in to the players will be given by outfielder Joaquín Gamba from the Coclé team.
There will be a space for the words of Mrs. Ivelis Viuda de Mesa (Marlon Mesa qepd), statements by the Vice President of the Panamanian Baseball Federation, Ramón Crespo, in addition to the intervention of the representatives of the sponsoring companies of the National Youth Championship.