‘We’re super excited’: Women’s Pro Baseball League prepares for its open tryouts in DC
Baseball has been part of Justine Siegal s life since she was a child Even after her brother stopped playing and was informed by a coach to play softball Siegal chose to stick to the battle she loves Siegal carried that love into adulthood becoming the first woman to coach for an MLB association Now she is one of the co-founders of the Women s Professional Baseball League which is looking to make professional baseball for women into a reality I love the championship and so numerous girls and women love baseball Siegal described WTOP s Jos Uma a This pro league gives a chance for them to follow their dreams too The WPBL plans to start next spring with six teams To do that it will host tryouts in D C from Aug - starting at the Nationals Youth Baseball Academy in Southeast and ending at Nationals Park After a chance meeting with John Wulf assistant participant advance director for the Washington Nationals Siegal mentioned the MLB organization was quick to assist the upstart league He reported What can we do to help And I reported it would be a dream to be on your field Siegal explained He mentioned Let s try to make that happen and here we are Over players have registered to participate in the historic tryout Siegal disclosed According to the WPBL it will be the first women s professional baseball tryouts to be held in over years Players must be at least years old to try out and it s open to all Those interested must register online on the league s website We are looking for the best players in the world Siegal noted Players will be evaluated in multiple positions The tryouts will include drill-focused sessions and athletic performance testing with cuts taking place each day On the last day Siegal reported players will be evaluated on live challenge action in front of former major league coaches and a few of the top women s coaches in the sport I want to see how their curveball drops Siegal announced on pitchers I want to see the movement on the slider or what s their change up All those things you would want to see in a major league camp Those who get called back will be a part of a contestant draft in October Once games start in the season will take place in one or two venues for the inaugural season playing seven-inning games and using aluminum bats following rules sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation We re just really busy getting it all done and making sure that our players feel respected when they come to the tryouts and they feel they had a real shot to be seen Siegal revealed Prior to WPBL s attempt there was the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League which was immortalized in the film A League of Their Own After years the league dissolved in This time the WPBL believes it has a product that will capture the country s attention Siegal reported Several known names in the sport including former Squad USA competitor Kelsie Whitmore and former Little League phenom Mo ne Davis have signed up to join the league Along with those in the tryouts Siegal sees promise in the league s future We re a lot of entertainment she declared You re going to see passion You re going to see home runs You re going to see strikeouts and we want people to fall in love with us I m confident that if you come into a tournament you re going to come back for a second one Source
