CARY, N.C. – USA Baseball today revealed the coaching staff for the 2024 12U National Team, including the naming of Bryan Madsen as manager. Roger Wright returns as an assistant coach after serving on the staff last spring, while Wes Brooks and Josh Ellison will make their first appearances on a national team staff in 2024.

Madsen will make his managerial debut at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-12 Baseball World Cup Americas Qualifier later this summer, where the U.S. will look to defend its gold medal from 2023.

“We are thrilled to have these men on our coaching staff this year,” said 12U National Team Program Director Cole Beeker. “Bryan has earned the opportunity to lead our team through his dedication to USA Baseball and its players, and he is surrounded by three esteemed coaches in Josh, Roger, and Wes. We look forward to them representing the United States on the international stage and to the challenge that comes with defending our gold medal.”

“I am deeply honored and humbled to have been chosen to be the 2024 12U National Team Manager,” said Madsen. “As a former United States Marine, the opportunity to represent our country is one that means the world to myself and my family and is not one that I take lightly. I will lead this team with honor and integrity and live up to the high standards that have been set by the amazing coaches and players before me.”

After making his first appearance on a national team coaching staff last summer, Madsen takes the helm of the 12U National Team for the first time in 2024. He served as an assistant on last year’s staff at the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup in Tainan, Taiwan, helping lead the stars and stripes to their second consecutive gold medal at the event. Team USA batted .440 as a team with Madsen on staff, outscoring opponents 120-37 and cranking a tournament-high 18 home runs while the pitching staff struck out 60 batters in 49.0 innings. Prior to joining the 12U staff, Madsen coached at the 12U National Team Training Camp in both 2021 and 2022 and assisted in the selection of the final roster. He also held a coaching position at the 13U/14U Athlete Development Program (ADP) in 2022 and has been on the USA Baseball Task Force at numerous different events, including the Futures Invitational and the National Team Identification Series (NTIS) Champions Cup.

Madsen, who served six years in the United States Marine Corps from 1999-2005, is in his third season as the head coach at St. Joseph’s High School (Santa Maria, Calif.). He led the Knights to a 19-11 overall record with a 12-2 mark in league play a season ago, reaching the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Central Section Baseball Championships. Prior to taking over at St. Joseph’s, Madsen was an assistant coach at Arroyo Grande High School (Arroyo Grande, Calif.) for six seasons. He is also the co-owner of Coastal Empire Baseball, which provides training and workouts for baseball players in Southern California.

A longtime high school baseball coach, Brooks will be an assistant for Team USA for the first time in 2024. Brooks has been involved with USA Baseball in several different roles for over a decade, including a coaching stint at last summer’s 2023 12U National Team Training Camp. He has also been on the USA Baseball Task Force for multiple events, including the Futures Invitational and the NTIS Champions Cup. Brooks was the head coach at Oxford High School (Oxford, Ala.) for 18 years, taking over in 2005 before transitioning to an athletics supervisor position following the 2023 season. He led the Yellow Jackets to state titles in both 2012 and 2023, guiding the program to a 39-6 overall record in his final year at the helm. Brooks’ team also competed in the first-ever USA Baseball National High School Invitational (NHSI) in 2012 and went 2-1 in tournament play. Prior to becoming the head coach at Oxford, Brooks held the same role for four seasons at his alma mater, Wellborn High School (Anniston, Ala.), where he initially joined as an assistant in 2001. Brooks played collegiately at Jacksonville State before spending one year in the minor leagues.

Ellison is set to make his national team coaching debut after several years of assisting at a variety of USA Baseball events. He most recently served as a coach at last summer’s 12U and 15U National Team Training Camps and has also coached at the 2021 and 2022 13U/14U ADP, the 2019 14U National Team Development Program (NTDP), and every 15U National Team Training Camp since 2019. Currently an assistant coach at Chaparral High School (Scottsdale, Ariz.), Ellison previously served in the same role at Arcadia High School (Phoenix, Ariz.). Prior to his time at Arcadia, Ellison began his coaching career at Tonopah Valley High School (Tonopah, Ariz.) in 2009 and then coached at Desert Edge (Goodyear, Ariz.) from 2011-2014 and Shadow Ridge (Surprise, Ariz.) from 2015-2016. In his playing days, Ellison was selected in the 11th round of the 2001 MLB Draft by the Seattle Mariners after a stellar high school career at Westminster Academy and amassed five years of professional baseball experience. In four years with the Mariners–where he reached Triple-A in 2004–and one season in the Yankees system in 2005, Ellison hit .281 while collecting 217 hits, 139 runs, and 78 RBIs.

Wright reprises his role as assistant coach after helping lead the U.S. to a gold medal at the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup Americas Qualifier last spring. Team USA batted .484 in the tournament and averaged 18 runs per game, beating Venezuela in the title game to secure gold. Prior to his Team USA coaching stint, Wright was the head coach at Buckhorn High School (New Market, Ala.) for over two decades, taking over the program in 1997 and concluding his time with the Bucks in 2019. He amassed 453 wins at Buckhorn and led the Bucks to a combined 14 Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) state playoff appearances, including eight at the 5A level and six at the 6A level. Wright is currently a volunteer assistant coach at the University of Alabama-Huntsville (UAH), where he previously spent three seasons as the pitching coach in 2015, 2016, and 2020. At UAH in 2020, he helped lead the Chargers to an NCAA South Regional appearance. Wright was named the Huntsville Metro Coach of the Year five times and, after over 20 years of service to baseball in the state of Alabama, was inducted into the Madison County Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016 and the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Hall of Fame in 2022. Additionally, his son Kyle played for USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team in 2016 and is currently a pitcher for the Kansas City Royals.

The 12U National Team has won seven gold medals in international competition, most recently winning its world-leading fifth gold at the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup in 2023. Additionally, the U.S. has medaled in all four WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup Americas Qualifiers it has competed in, earning silver medals in 2014 and 2016 before capturing gold in 2018 and 2023. The 12U National Team owns a 32-4 all-time record at WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup Americas Qualifiers.

The 12U National Team Training Camp will take place from June 24-28 in Cary, North Carolina, featuring four days of intrasquad games, on-field workouts, and more. The final 18-player roster will be announced on June 28.

For more information on the 12U National Team, visit USABaseball.com or follow @USABaseball12U on Twitter.