Education, and Recreation (INDER) and in March, after the close of the 1960–61 Cuban League season, it decreed the abolition of professional baseball and plans to hold a national amateur championship. Thus, the National Series was conceptualized to serve as the national league circuit. Opening Day for the new league was slated for fall 1961. The first National Series season 1961–62, included four charter teams: Occidentales, Orientales, Habana, and Azucareros. The next season the number of teams had increased to six, and in 1967 to 12. The expansion of baseball to the provinces was accompanied by the construction of new stadiums in provincial capitals, bringing first-tier baseball to the provincial population. This expansion greatly enhanced the nationwide accessibility of top-flight baseball. The two new Havana-based teams, Industriales and Habana (renamed in the 1970s to Metropolitanos), were similar to the old professional Cuban League rivals, Almendares and Habana in that Industriales, like Almendares, wore blue, while Habana/Metropolitanos, like Habana, wore red. However, after Industriales went on to capture four consecutive championships from 1963–66, they became known as the premier Cuban team. Metropolitanos after the '80s, on the other hand, was unable to be competitive and has failed to re-establish the rivalry; it is now considered a second-class team, where young players and fading veterans share playing time. Several individuals were important in the transition to post-revolutionary baseball. Gilberto Torres managed the early national team and conveyed his vast knowledge of the game to the new generation of amateur players. Natilla Jiménez managed several provincial teams and was pitching coach of the national team. Juan Vistuer, Asdrúbal Baró, and Pedro Chávez also were prominent transitional coaches and managers. Conrado Marrero (former pitcher with the Washington Senators) remained in Cuba where he was a pitching coach for several teams. The Cuban baseball system is designed as much to develop the nation's athletic talents as to provide entertainment to the public. Children showing athletic promise are sent to sports academies for extensive competitive training and development, with the goal of developing the nation's athletes. Some players are able to make the municipal team and advance through the sport without training in the academies, but those players are exceptional. Although players are amateurs, elite players are subsidized and given special rewards. A problem confronting Cuba's top athletes, however, is the lack of opportunities to compete against the best players in the world. An opportunity for