CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Florida Travel Ball (FTB) founder/owner/general manager George Gonzalez has agreed to expand his business relationship with Perfect Game by becoming the first North Florida State Director of the fledgling Perfect Game Baseball Association (PGBA).
The PGBA will serve as the official governing body for all Perfect Game amateur baseball tournaments. The PGBA, which covers all ages and competition levels, provides more value to travel teams and players while providing resources to host the highest quality events in all areas of the country.
Gonzalez, a resident of Kissimmee, Fla., brings a wealth of experience to his new position, having spent the last 11 years working for USSSA Baseball. He helped run 90 tournaments that involved around 4,000 teams in the last year alone.
As the owner and operator of FTB, Gonzalez and his right-hand man, Jered Goodwin, began sending multiple teams to PG WWBA and PG BCS tournaments, and Gonzalez gained a deep appreciation for the way the events were run. When approached about taking this position with the PGBA, he said he had always looked at PG tournament decision-makers as a tight-knit family and was “honored” to be invited into that family.
“Having the opportunity to help create this sanctioning body for PG and bring in a platform such as this at a younger level is just amazing,” Gonzalez said in a recent telephone interview. “… We created that platform at FTB where we are given a chance to alter a kid’s life and be helpful in that direction, and there’s nobody better at that than (PG). … With what we do at FTB and the platform (PG) offers, how could I not want to be involved with doing that for younger players.”
With the rapid growth of Perfect Game tournaments, PG officials believe the PGBA’s development will benefit travel baseball teams of all ages and at all competition levels. It will help enforce higher standards for tournament operators, leading to increased quality at all travel baseball tournaments. Bringing in Gonzalez and his untarnished reputation in the ever-growing youth baseball community only reaffirms PG’s commitment to excellence.
“George Gonzalez is one of the most respected people in amateur and youth baseball,” Perfect Game President Jerry Ford said. “You just can't find many people that care as much as George does about the game and the kids that play it. Once again we got lucky when George decided to join us. Perfect Game's greatest asset is the people within the organization and George makes that asset grow even stronger.”
Already, in the short time Gonzalez has been involved with the PGBA, he has put together 14 tournaments in the 9u-14u age groups that will be played in the Florida cities of Daytona, Lake City, Fort Myers, Plant City, Gainesville and Kissimmee from mid-September through early December.
“We’ll sit down in December and we’ll make adjustments,” Gonzalez said. “We’re on trial and error here because we’re learning … but that is the difference between PG and everybody else – they do it and they do it right. They don’t take any shortcuts; they either do it right or they don’t do it.”
Under the front office guidance of Gonzalez and the on-field expertise of Goodwin, FTB has grown into one of the most respected travel ball organizations in the country. The program has won multiple PG National Championship tournaments in recent years, including the 2013 18u PG BCS Finals, the 2015 PG WWBA Underclass World Championship and this summer’s 17u PG WWBA National Championship. Just since 2010, 31 prospect have gone through the FTB program and went on to become first round MLB draft picks.
Gonzalez is quick to credit Goodwin helping top prospects realize their goals of playing either professionally or collegiately, but is going to have to move forward without his field boss. Goodwin, who led Hagarty High School (Oviedo, Fla.) to a runner-up finish at the Florida Class 8A State Tournament in May, recently agreed to become the recruiting coordinator for new head coach Mervyl Melendez at Florida International University; NCAA rules prohibit him from continuing his coaching duties with FTB.
“Jered’s that guy who will load up eight kids in the back (of the van) and say, ‘Let’s roll,’” Gonzalez said before slightly shifting gears. “(My son) Jay Gonzalez is not at Auburn University if it isn’t for Jered Goodwin. Jered and I have built a relationship – he’s like a little brother to me – and we call each other and we vent with each other. I’m so happy for him with the opportunity he’s getting at FIU.”
Jay Gonzalez, an alumnus of the 2009 PG National Showcase, was a 10th-round pick of the Baltimore Orioles out of Auburn in the 2014 draft and was recently promoted to Bowie in the Double-A Eastern League. George Gonzalez said his son benefitted greatly from his PG experiences, which makes the elder Gonzalez all the prouder to be a part of the PGBA with the opportunities it will provide for young players well into the future.
“The opportunity to be able to offer PG Youth (opportunities) is going to be huge,” George Gonzalez said. “I’m on the ground floor, which is awesome, and the challenge is to build this brick by brick until we have a brick house.”