FORT MYERS, Fla. – Perfect Game Baseball is on board as the owner of the PG Series, which gives the founders of the national baseball and athletic testing program a gigantic head of steam as they drive it into its first full year of operation in 2016.

The PG Series will include Perfect Game-sanctioned events known as Classics and Challenges. The weeklong Classic events are elite tournaments with every team playing a minimum of seven games and culminating in one champion. There will also be testing in areas such as fielding, throwing, agility and reaction while offering batting practice and clocking in the 30-yard dash.

“We want to test their athletic ability and their skills against kids from around the world; they’ll be given ways to improve their deficiencies in certain testing skills,” PG Series Vice President Ben Ford said. “The whole idea is to help them become better athletes and better baseball players in the future.”

Moving in under the Perfect Game ownership umbrella provides instant credibility to the program. PG player profile pages will be created for every player participating in either a PG Series Classic or Challenge event, which means participants will enjoy the benefits of being included in PG’s expansive national prospect database.

In a statement issued from Perfect Game National Headquarters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, PG Founder and President Jerry Ford said:

“The most important thing in anything we do at PG is to make sure what we do is good for the game of baseball.  If we believe that it is good for the game, we can make it successful. …

“There are several reasons that this project will help the game. One example is just identifying natural ability in the youngest age groups. Once identified, our goal is to stay in contact with those kids and do everything possible to keep them involved in the game.

“The truth is many of the very best and most athletic kids at the younger age groups are leaving the game before high school in order to concentrate on other sports. We want those kids to keep playing baseball along with the other sports they enjoy. We feel we can do this by staying in touch and communicating how baseball might be the game that ends up offering the best opportunity. We want to educate kids about the opportunities baseball can provide.

“In addition, I am a firm believer that all of the data secured will become very important.  While scouting or college recruiting isn't a big part of youth baseball below the age of 15-16, setting goals and development is vitally important.  Education is important, projection is important.”

According to its stated mission, the program’s founders developed the PG Series under the belief “that every player, if armed with proprietary data and assessment, can improve their baseball skills and raise their game to the next level. The goal of The Series is to help players of all ages become more complete players by understanding their skill strengths and, more importantly, their weaknesses (and) we believe in the importance of turning a player’s weaknesses into strengths.”

In conclusion, the founders stated: “More athletic and complete baseball players will equate to better and even more passionate baseball players stepping onto the field every day.”

Thirty-two teams will compete in each of the six Classics, with the players coming from 28 territories from across the United States, one from Canada, one from Puerto Rico, one with an international base and fourth team assembled from testing at the nationwide Challenges.

Each of the six Classics will be held at former or current MLB spring training facilities in Fort Myers on the following dates: 11u, July 24-30; 12u, July 25-31; 13u, July 31-Aug. 6; 14u, July 11-17; Freshman (2019 grads), Aug. 1-7; Sophomore (2018 grads), Aug. 1-7.

Every Classic participant will receive a package that includes uniforms, a bag and batting helmet, among other items and there will be grand opening ceremony to kick-off each Classic. It will be an all-day event that features home run derby and fastest man competitions along with a complete series of skills tests.

The Classic rosters – which will be assembled by invitation only – will vary according to age-group, with the 11u and 12u consisting of 15 players, and the 13u, 14u, Freshman and Sophomore expanding up to 17 players.

“Obviously, this is still a big challenge because it’s something that is essentially brand new,” Ben Ford said. “We got a little bit of a foothold just by doing those Classics last summer. All the kids and parents really loved being at them and we got some really good feedback from everybody.”

The Challenges will serve as testing centers that will be ran throughout the entire country. The Challenges will be one-day events that anyone can attend for the purpose of taking part in athletic and baseball testing. Perfect Game player profile pages will be created for each participant and will display his or her testing results. Several of the Challenges will be held at indoor facilities beginning after the first of the year.

“(The Challenges) are all about getting a player’s (testing) numbers out there on the Perfect Game Series website,” Ben Ford said. “There will be national comparisons so everybody can see where they stand against other players in their age-group, kind of like national leaderboards.”

Many of the older kids involved in the PG Series will already be familiar with Perfect game through their participation in PG tournaments and showcases but Ben Ford is quick to point out that a lot of this is new to the younger participants.

“These younger kids have never done any of this testing before,” he said. “Right now with these young kids, their coaches work with them on their baseball fundamentals and that’s it, but as far as their overall athletic ability, nobody is working with them.”

In his statement, PG President Jerry Ford concluded:

“Nobody knows for sure which 12-year-old boy will end up being the best 18-year-old. But if you picked out the most naturally gifted kids (not necessarily the biggest and strongest) some of them, maybe many of those you pick out, will in fact be outstanding players when they are older.

“Once again our goal is to educate them regarding the opportunities and keep them in the game. This is exciting because in the end it is going to help a lot of young kids and it is going to help the game we love grow even bigger.”

Anyone who is interested in running a PG Series Challenge event or can recommend players for the PG Series Classic should contact Ben Ford at benford@perfectgame.org for details.