The 2024 ABCA Convention will be held at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Dallas from January 4-7, 2023. The 2024 event will mark the 80th rendition of the annual ABCA Convention and the seventh time the event has been held in Dallas. Dubbed the World's Largest Baseball Convention, the 2023 ABCA Convention was the largest ever with nearly 8,000 coaches in attendance!
The 2024 ABCA Convention will kick off on Thursday, January 4 with the opening of the ABCA Trade Show and start of Expo Theater presentations. The ABCA Trade Show will run Thursday, January 4 through Saturday, January 6 and feature over 350 companies displaying state-of-the-art baseball equipment, technology and services. Many of the exhibiting companies will be unveiling new products for the first time at the show and offering special sales offers for coaches at the Trade Show! The Expo Theater, presented by Hour-A-Thon, will feature product demos and other presentations from exhibiting companies throughout the three-day Trade Show.
The General Session clinics, presented by Wilson/ATEC will get underway on Friday, January 5 with a presentation from the 2023 NCAA Div. I National Champion head coach. ABCA Second Vice President Bob Whalen of Dartmouth College and Third Vice President John McCormack are putting together an excellent lineup of nearly 25 speakers for the clinics. The General Session will run through the morning of Sunday, January 7.
The Youth Coaches Session will run concurrently on Friday, January 6 and Saturday, January 7. The Youth Coaches Session, which is presented by GameChanger will have nearly 15 presentations tailored specifically for coaches of youth-level teams up to age 14.
Following each of the presentation in both the General Session and Youth Coaches Session, the clinic speaker will host a Question and Answer breakout with all attendees.
Other activities during the 2024 ABCA Convention will include the ABCA Hall of Fame Banquet to honor the Lefty Gomez Award recipient and induct the newest ABCA Hall of Fame Class. There will be Divisional Coaches Meetings & Rookie Coaches Mentorship on Thursday evening, the ABCA Coaches Social in the Trade Show on Friday evening, eight position-specific Hot Stove Panel Discussions on Friday and Saturday evenings, and the Diversity in Baseball Committee Workshops on Saturday morning.
For those members unable to attend the Convention in Dallas, the ABCA will once again offer a Clinic Live Video Stream of the General Session, General Session Q&A and Youth Coaches Session.
All coaches who register for the 2024 ABCA Convention or Clinic Live Video Stream will receive the entire set of on-demand clinic videos from the event, which includes the General Session, Youth Coaches Session and Expo Theater presentations, in their ABCA account by February 1, 2024. All other ABCA members will receive access to the on-demand video set as part of their membership benefits later in the membership year.
In order to ensure the best experience for all attendees, the 2024 ABCA Convention in Dallas will have a registration limit and is expected to sell out. Priority Convention Registration for the 2024 ABCA Convention will open to 2022-23 ABCA members in August. Registration for the 2024 ABCA Convention will open to everyone on September 1. Make sure your ABCA account information is up-to-date in order to receive the latest updates on the 2024 ABCA Convention as it gets closer!