Maybelle Blair, Sports Icon and Former Professional Baseball Player in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League to Attend First Women’s Tryouts in Over 80 Years
The Women’s Pro Baseball League (WPBL) is thrilled to announce that global women’s baseball superstars Mo’ne Davis and Kelsie Whitmore will headline the League’s historic summer tryouts at the Nationals Park and Nationals Youth Baseball Academy in Washington, D.C., from August 22nd-25th. 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.
In addition to Davis, Whitmore, and many other Team USA players attending the tryouts, other top international players who will be in Washington D.C. include Ayami Sato and Alli Schroder along with players from Japan, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Korea, and the United Kingdom amongst other countries. Tryouts will get underway at the Nationals Youth Baseball Academy on Friday, August 22nd starting at 8:00 a.m. and will run through Sunday, August 24th. Each day will include drill-focused sessions and athletic performance testing during which player evaluations and cuts will take place.
On Monday, August 25th, live game play will start at Nationals Park at 9:15 a.m. and conclude at 3:45 p.m. and is open to all baseball fans who sign-up with the WPBL to attend. On Monday, final cuts will take place to determine which players will be eligible for the WPBL Draft taking place this fall.
“The WPBL is for all the girls and women who have dreamt of playing baseball at the highest level, our time is now,” said WPBL Co-Founder, Dr. Justine Siegal. “At tryouts, you are going to see many of the best baseball players in the world. You’re going to see curveballs, stealing, and power hitters – all led by passion. At the tryouts, you will see dreams come true.”
For the WPBL’s historic tryouts, sports icon, former professional baseball player in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, and Honorary Chair of the WPBL Advisory Board, Maybelle Blair, will be in attendance the last two days. Blair, a true American pioneer and trailblazer in women’s sports, is a former pitcher who played in 1948 for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League made famous by the movie “A League of Their Own.”
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.
“I am really excited to attend the tryouts and see the turn out,” added baseball superstar, Kelsie Whitmore. “There are so many talented young female baseball players out there and it will be amazing for the world to finally get a chance to see what we are all about. This is just the beginning for women in baseball. “
Earlier this year, the WPBL announced 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.
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.