Hundreds of women will assemble in Washington, D.C., next month to compete for a chance to play professional baseball in the U.S. for the first time in decades.
The Women’s Pro Baseball League (WPBL) will hold tryouts at Nationals Park and Nationals Youth Baseball Academy on Aug. 22-25, the league announced Wednesday. More than 600 people registered to take part.
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The first part of the tryout will be held at the Nationals Youth Baseball Academy on Aug. 22-24 and include drills and performance testing. A team led by former Team USA baseball member Alex Hugo will evaluate the players and make cuts.
On Aug. 25, Nationals Park will host live game play where final cuts will be made to determine the 150 players eligible for the draft, which will happen in the fall.
“We want to see the best of the best. That’s what we’re looking for — the best players around the world,” said Justine Siegal, league co-founder and a former baseball player and coach, in an interview on “CBS Mornings Plus.”
The WPBL aims to launch in the summer of 2026 with six teams and would become the first women’s professional baseball league in the U.S. since the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which existed from 1943 to 1954. The AAGPBL was depicted in the classic 1992 film “A League of Their Own.”
Last month, the Athletes Unlimited Softball League, a new, professional, MLB-backed softball league, began its inaugural season. Hugo, who also played softball at the University of Georgia and the University of Kansas, said there will now be opportunities for women in both sports.
“Softball has their routes, and we’re creating a route for us,” Hugo said. “There’s been so many females who have wanted this for a long time and dreamed of it, so now we’re getting there.”
In May, the WPBL announced a partnership with production company Fremantle, which will produce and distribute game broadcasts, secure sponsors and market the league, among other things.
Co-founded by Siegal and attorney Keith Stein, the WPBL has brought on global women’s sports investor Assia Grazioli-Venier as chair, and Muse Sport, the sports advisory arm of Grazioli-Venier’s firm, Muse Capital, as an official advisory partner. Japanese pitcher Ayami Sato, who in May became the first woman to play in a men’s professional baseball league in Canada, and former MLB manager Cito Gaston will also serve as advisors.
(Photo of Nationals Park: Scott Taetsch / Getty Images)
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