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www.sportseventsmagazine.com January 2016 11 GOVERNING Bodies t USTA Foundation To Be Offcial Charity OF 2016 BNP Paribas Showdown WHITE PLAINS, N.Y —The USTA Foundation, the United States Tennis Association's (USTA) national charitable organization, has been selected as the offcial charity of the 2016 BNP Paribas Showdown. Set to take place March 8, at Madison Square Garden (MSG) in honor of World Tennis Day, the single-elimination exhibition tournament will include some of the greatest names in tennis, including 21-time Grand Slam Champion Serena Williams. Additionally, the USTA Foundation will host a fundraising and awards reception with the players on March 7 at the Essex House Hotel in New York. According to Dan Faber, executive director of the USTA Foundation, the event will raise funds to support the organiza- tion's scholarships and grants to under-resourced youth who attend tennis and education programs around the country. "The BNP Paribas Showdown is a great platform for the USTA Foundation to share its message of using tennis to provide safe, healthy and educational opportu- nities for youth across America," Faber said. "We are grateful to StarGames, Inc. (promoters of the event) and MSG for once again selecting our organization as the offcial charity for the BNP Paribas Showdown." n USA Baseball Enhances National Team Identifcation Series DURHAM, N.C. -- USA Baseball is enhancing its National Team Identifcation Series (NTIS) with a new logo, new tagline, and an enriched player identifcation process. The new tagline, "Your Region This Year, Your Country Next," embraces the overall mission of the NTIS to provide athletes from all over the country an opportunity to play for Team USA. USA Baseball has designated 16 regional directors to be in charge of identifying the best athletes to attend the NTIS from across the U.S. These directors have been hand-selected by the organization, thereby extending USA Baseball's vision into every region in the country. All attendees will compete head-to-head against athletes and teams from different regions across the country in a series of games and skills testing. The eighth annual identifcation series will be divided into three events and fve age groups, allowing task force members, as well as college and major league scouts in attendance, the opportunity to evaluate players closely. The NTIS will take place at the National Training Complex and adjoining Thomas Brooks Park in Cary, N.C. from August 10 - 28. From the fve age groups, USA Baseball will name a minimum of six players to the 2017 Tournament of Stars, a minimum of four players to the 18U National Team Trials, and a minimum of 12 players will be named to the 2017 17U National Team Development Program (17U NTDP). n College Cup will take place at WakeMed Soccer Park, hosted by the Town of Cary, Campbell University, Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance, and Capital Area Soccer League. The University of Central Florida and Central Florida Sports Commission will host the 2017 event in the Lions and Orlando Pride's new venue. "The committee is dedi- cated to providing a quality environment for the stu- dent-athletes, and we have had tremendous success creating that environment in Cary and appreciate the city stepping up to host the 2016 Women's College Cup," said Janet Oberle, chair of the Division I Women's Soccer Committee. "We are also looking forward to hosting the championship in a new stadium in Orlando in 2017." 2016 will mark the eighth time Cary has hosted the Women's College Cup and the 18th time the champi- onship has been played in the state of North Carolina. The most recent championship in 2015 set a 25,011 attendance record with a 13,329 cham- pionship game attendance, making it the second highest championship game attendance in college cup history. n C l i T h i Women's College Cup t SPORTS Talk