The World’s Largest Baseball Convention is being held virtually for the first time ever in 2021! Thousands of coaches are once again expected to take part in the 77th annual ABCA Convention, which is set for Jan. 7-10, 2021!
Register for the 2021 ABCA Convention
The American Baseball Coaches Association announced the transition of the 2021 ABCA Convention a fully virtual experience on August 31. The Virtual ABCA Convention will be held live Jan. 7-10, 2021 and will include all of the features of the annual in-person Convention.
The Virtual Convention will include:
- 24 main-stage clinics
- 12 Youth Coaches presentations
- The Expo Theater
- Post-Clinic Q&A
- Hot Stoves
- Virtual networking opportunities and video meetings
- Hundreds of exhibitors showcasing their new products and innovations in the Virtual ABCA Trade Show
The virtual event platform will be easy to use and make the Convention accessible to all ABCA members and Trade Show exhibitors, regardless of current budgetary, travel or health restrictions. A fantastic lineup of clinic speakers put together by ABCA Second Vice President Rick Hitt of South Florida State College and ABCA Third Vice President Jim Schlossnagle of TCU will be announced later this month.
Convention registration opened on September 1 with an Early Bird rate of $90 through December 15. Members who attend the Virtual Convention will be able to sign in on one device at a time and will get access to the clinic videos on-demand by February 1, 2021. ABCA members who don't attend the Virtual Convention will get access to the videos as part of their membership in May 2021.
Several factors went into the decision to move the ABCA Convention to a virtual platform, first and foremost, the safety and well-being of members. Additionally, the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, where the Convention was scheduled to be held, is currently closed due to the COVID-19 situation. When the venue reopens, current social distancing guidelines would limit the ABCA Convention to less than 750 coaches in the Clinic Hall. Other venues that can host an event like the ABCA Convention weren’t available.
This past January's Convention hosted a record 7,100 coaches, with a Clinic Hall capacity of more than 6,000. More than 13,000 coaches were ABCA members – also a record – in 2019-20.