At the 5th EBCA convention held from december 5th - 7th 2008 in Vienna, Tom O´Connell, former president of the ABCA and Vice president of longterm partner ISG was named as the winner of the EBCA achievement award 2008.

This honor which was received only by 4 other coaches yet left Coach O´Connell speechless: "I don´t know what to say, I´m proud!" was the reaction in front of  coaches from 9 different countries. O´Connell, who is working in europe for several years led many clinics and was MLB Envoy coach for many years.
He still inspires coaches throughout the continent and helps making the game of baseball getting bigger in europe.