The Grand Forks International Baseball Tournament (GFI) is proud to announce that a prominent alumni baseball team will be participating in the 32nd GFI.
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is one of the most familiar names in college sports in the United States.
In the sports of basketball, football and baseball, the UCLA Bruins have a history of excellence and championships.
This team was started in 2005 and the chief architect behind this squad is legendary UCLA Coach Gary Adams.
Adams is the winningest coach in UCLA history. In his 30 years at the helm, he led the Bruins to 984 wins and has a total of 1,172 victories in his college coaching career.
He coached 44 major league players while at UCLA (second most in collegiate baseball history) and was inducted into the prestigious National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Baseball Hall of Fame in 2004 and the UCLA Hall of Fame last November.
On a separate note of interest, Adams has also written several children’s books, including The Ladybug Story and So Flat, So Deep, So Far.
Sharing the leadership of this team is General Manager Marty Stuka. Marty is a businessman but maintains a heavy involvement in the world of baseball, including the director of international baseball operations for MVP Baseball.
He has coached against national teams from eight different countries and in 1983, he coached the French national baseball team in the European Championships.
The UCLA Alumni team makes an international trip each year. Last year they played a series in the Czech Republic; other trips have included Spain, Italy and Australia.
Now in 2012, they will bring their team to James Donaldson Park in Grand Forks.
Stuka said a few days ago, “We are getting very excited about the trip to Grand Forks.”
GFI President Gerry Foster responded, “We also are excited, and very much looking forward to welcoming this team from Los Angeles to our community and tournament.”
This year’s tournament runs from Aug. 29 to Sept. 3.
– Grand Forks International Baseball Tournament organizing committee