The Story of the European Baseball Winter Meeting – November 2026
Solingen, Germany — In baseball, as in life, progress is rarely the result of isolated brilliance. It is forged through alignment. Through trust. Through shared purpose.
More than a century ago, baseball established itself as more than a game. It became a teacher of values, a builder of community, and a proving ground for leadership. Today, as the game continues to expand beyond its traditional borders, the question is no longer whether baseball will grow globally — but how, why, and with whom.

The answer lies in shared ambition.
Across continents and cultures, organizations committed to the game have independently arrived at the same truth: the future of baseball depends on the quality of the people entrusted to teach it. Coaches, mentors, parents, administrators, umpires, and former players are not simply participants in the game — they are its stewards.
This belief unites the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), the European Baseball Coaches Association (EBCA), Curaçao Baseball Week (CBW) and the Bam Bam Foundation BBF), the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association (MLBPAA), Simba’s Helping Hands, and the Solingen Alligators Baseball Club. Different missions. Different geographies. One shared conviction.
That conviction gave rise to the European Baseball Winter Meeting (EBWM).

A Bridge, Not an Event
EBWM was not created to compete with existing conventions. It was created to connect them.
Positioned deliberately between the annual gatherings of the ABCA and the EBCA, the European Baseball Winter Meeting serves as a living bridge — translating global standards into local action, and local ambition into global relevance. It addresses a fundamental reality facing the sport: as baseball’s popularity grows across Europe, so too does the demand for education, consistency, ethics, and sustainable development systems. The EBWM is where those forces finally meet.

The Coach at the Center
At the heart of this shared ambition, vision and mission is a simple, powerful truth long upheld by the ABCA and the EBCA: the single most important variable in the development of players — and people — is the coach.
The next generation of athletes will one day become parents, professionals, leaders, and citizens. Their character does not develop automatically. It is shaped through daily interactions, modeled behavior, and the standards set by those entrusted with their development.
EBWM exists to strengthen that trust.
Through world-class classroom education, elite on-field instruction, and intentional alignment across all levels of the game, the meeting reinforces the role of the coach not merely as an instructor of skills, but as a guardian of values — honesty, integrity, respect, accountability, and lifelong learning.

One Game. One Language. One Standard.
What sets the European Baseball Winter Meeting apart is not only who teaches — but how teaching is unified.
The same former Major League players, professional coaches, and top European instructors who educate coaches in the classroom step directly onto the field to teach players. Umpires receive instruction from respected professionals aligned with those same standards. Administrators, healthcare professionals, and parents engage in parallel sessions addressing development pathways, arm care, mental health, governance, and sustainability. The result is rare in sport: complete consistency.

Inspiration with Responsibility
Through the influence of Curaçao Baseball Week, the Bam Bam Foundation, Simba’s Helping Hands, and the MLB Players Alumni Association, EBWM reinforces another essential principle: inspiration alone is not enough.
Young people deserve access to role models — but also to tools. Discipline. Resilience. Education. Life skills. Environmental stewardship. Community responsibility.
By integrating baseball with broader personal development, EBWM ensures that the game continues to uplift not only performance — but lives.

Why Solingen Matters
The host city is no coincidence.
Solingen, a city known for craftsmanship, precision, and pride, reflects the same values EBWM seeks to instill in the game. The Solingen Alligators Baseball Club embodies a philosophy rooted in family, character, courage, and loyalty — building community through baseball while looking far beyond the field.
In Solingen, global expertise meets local commitment. Tradition meets innovation. Vision meets execution.

A Moment — and a Message
The European Baseball Winter Meeting is both a continuation and an exclamation point.
It continues decades of work by organizations dedicated to education, ethics, and excellence. And it declares, clearly and confidently, that Europe is ready to grow baseball responsibly — with intention, alignment, and shared purpose.
In November 2026, the global baseball community will not simply gather in Germany. It will align. It will learn. It will lead.
And in doing so, it will help secure the future of the game — not just for the next season, but for generations to come.