Istoria WPBL: Primele Încercări de Baseball Feminin în peste 80 de ani

WPBL Breaks News on CBS Mornings, Tryouts Taking Place at Home of MLB’s Washington Nationals

BOSTON, July 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The Women’s Pro Baseball League (WPBL) is excited to announce that the league will hold their historic summer tryouts at the Nationals Park and Nationals Youth Baseball Academy in Washington, D.C., from August 22-25^th. Marking a historic moment in women’s sports, it is the first women’s professional baseball tryouts to be held in over 80 years since the All American Girls Professional Baseball League in 1943.

Over 600 players registered to participate in the WPBL’s summer tryouts.  From August 22^nd-24^th at the Nationals Youth Baseball Academy, the tryouts will include drill-focused sessions and athletic performance testing during which player evaluations and cuts will take place. On Monday, August 25^th, there will be live game play at Nationals Park where final cuts will take place to determine which players will be eligible for the WPBL Draft.

WPBL Co-Founder, Dr. Justine Siegal, appeared on CBS Mornings with Alex Hugo, EVP of WPBL Player Relations, for the breaking news announcement. “This is more than a tryout – it’s a moment of long-overdue recognition for the incredible talent that has gone unseen for far too long,” said Siegal. “We are thrilled to work with the Washington Nationals organization for our tryouts and have them support our League and women’s professional baseball.”

Leading the tryouts will be women’s baseball superstar Alex Hugo who is the only two-time USA Baseball Sportswoman of the Year Award Winner (2019, 2024) and Team USA Silver Medalist at the 2024 WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup where she was Team Captain. Following the League’s tryouts taking place this summer, up to 150 participants will be invited to the WPBL’s draft in October.

This announcement comes on the heels of the WPBL’s recent news about their strategic partnership with Fremantle that brings together one of the leading entertainment companies with the nation’s newest, and most dynamic, sports league. A landmark collaboration, Fremantle will provide development, production, distribution, digital, sponsorship representation, licensing and marketing partnership support across the league. Prior to this, the WPBL announced global women’s sports leader Assia Grazioli-Venier being named Chair of League, and that Muse Sport – the sports advisory arm of her firm, Muse Capital – joining the League as an official advisory partner of the WPBL.

“We are really excited to see all of the players at tryouts this summer and see their incredible skills,” said Alex Hugo, EVP of WPBL Player Relations. “We’re building a future where girls and women who love baseball can dream as big as they want and now, finally, have a league to call their own.”

The Youth Baseball Academy, operated by Nationals Philanthropies as its signature program, has delivered 11 years of holistic youth development, academic enrichment, wellness education and youth sports experiences to thousands of school-age children living east of the Anacostia River. The Academy has grown into a community pillar, serving as a hub of support and a critical food access point for the neighborhood through its weekly produce market and meal programs.

The WPBL is the only professional women’s baseball league in America and will launch with six teams in the spring of 2026 and consist of a regular season, playoffs, and championship. League Co-Founder and baseball pioneer, Dr. Justine Siegal, is the first woman to coach a professional men’s baseball team and to pitch batting practice in Major League Baseball. In addition, Maybelle Blair, sports icon and former professional baseball player in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, was named Honorary Chair of the WPBL Advisory Board comprised of female trailblazers in sports and business.

For more information on the WPBL, visit www.womensprobaseballleague.com. 

About the WPBL:
The Women’s Pro Baseball League (WPBL) is the only professional women’s baseball league in America and will launch with six teams in the spring of 2026 and consist of a regular season, playoffs, and championship. League Co-Founder and baseball pioneer, Dr. Justine Siegal, is the first woman to coach a professional men’s baseball team and to pitch batting practice in Major League Baseball. For more information on the WPBL, visit www.womensprobaseballleague.com

About Washington Nationals Philanthropies:
Washington Nationals Philanthropies is the official charitable arm of the Washington Nationals. Its mission is to help children, families and communities thrive through sports-based youth development and access to healthy food. The organization delivers on this commitment by spurring investment in community-based programs that address the disparity of opportunity for residents of the region. Since 2007, the foundation has issued more than $7 million in grants to local organizations. Through its signature program, the Nationals Youth Baseball Academy, the organization operates year-round youth development and baseball instruction activities, as well as a holistic food access program – supporting the delivery of nearly 1 million meals into the Washington, DC region since 2018. Since 2013, the organization has invested $50 million for facility construction and annual programming through the Academy. For more information about Nationals Philanthropies, visit nats4good.org.

SOURCE Women’s Pro Baseball League