my favorite team is goalie

And while national team opportunities have improved in recent years, here is an excerpt on what it was like for former Team USA veteran player Malaika Underwood to train with the team (source)

“After the national team trials in June, Underwood invited teammates who also lived in the Southeast to spend weekends at her house in Jacksonville so that they could practice together. They also met up in Atlanta. All the training and travel happened on their own dimes. When they could, players sent videos of their pitches and swings to their coaches, who would try to make adjustments remotely.

“It’s all on us,” Underwood says. “In terms of time and personal investment, we’ve all given up a lot to be here. Guys make sacrifices to play baseball, too, but there’s just a much clearer path for them.”

Basically I say this because I know there’s a lot of people coming over from being recent wnba/pwhl/nwsl fans, and particularly if you watched the latter two leagues, understand that the WPBL is coming at it with significantly less infrastructure in place in America. There’s no ncaa programs, no high school programs, the only previously attempted league after the AAGPBL was the amateur league, North American Women's Baseball League, which existed for five years. The nwsl and PWHL all had several attempted leagues before if, several overseas leagues, college programs, and stronger national team programs that appeared in major tournaments like the Olympics they were building off of. I also don’t want to entirely compare to wnba, because I think the time period and how it came about puts it in a different cultural context, but even they had a few attempts at pro leagues and several decades of organized college play.

Itching for WPBL to start. August 1st, 2026 seems far away, but some recap for the uninitiated:

The Women's Professional Baseball League is about to start in the US. It is hosted in Springfield, IL, USA as a neutral site for the current 4 teams:

Boston (merch-green) - roster

New York (merch-teal) - roster

San Francisco (merch-purple) - roster

Los Angeles (merch-blue) - roster

Some highlights of the teams:

Details from back at tryouts last year:

Kelsie Whitmore of Savannah Bananas fame (first woman to play) will be playing for San Francisco. She was the first round first pick in the 2025 draft.

Danae Benites of the Loco Beach Coconuts will be playing for New York

There are 15 players over 30

The draft pulled players from a variety of countries:

Outside the US we have Canada, Mexico, South Korea, Japan, Australia, France, Venezuela, UK, and while it is under US occupation I wanna highlight it on its own: Puerto Rico.

There are a number of out queer players

Boston (5)

Paloma Benach (LHP - DC, USA)

Nadia Diaz (3B - NY, USA)

Stephanie Everett (LF - MD, USA)

Zoe Hicks (3B - CA)

Raine Padgham (RHP - BC, CA)

New York (4)

Denae Benites (Catcher - NV, USA)

Elodie Ciamarro (Catcher - Quebec, CA)

Beth Greenwood (Catcher - USA)

London Studer (1B - OH, USA)

San Francisco (6)

Kelsie Whitmore (RHP - CA, USA)

Jordan Eyester (CF - MI, USA)

Amanda Gianelloni (2B - LA, USA)

Liz Gilder (LHP - BC, CA)

Arwen McCullough (RHP - CA, USA)

Micaela Minner (1B - OH, USA, she's 40 btw! 😍)

Los Angeles (3)

Ashton Lansdell (3B - GA, USA)

Jamie Mackay (Catcher - CA, USA)

Luisa Hernandez (3B - Jalisco, MX)

From Commissioner Justine Siegal PhD:

"Across the USA and around the world, women have always played baseball. From backyard games with older siblings, to rec leagues across the country, women have found ways to play the sport they love. Baseball is America’s pastime, but the professional game hasn’t evolved to reflect the diversity of those who play, watch and love this sport. That’s about to change. A long time dream is coming into focus: a professional women’s baseball league for a new generation. The Women’s Pro Baseball League is here. We’re creating a stage where elite women’s baseball players have a place to shine, and establishing a pipeline for every girl who dreams of competing at the highest level one day. A league of their own, for the first time since the AAGPBL of the 1940s. This league is just one part of a larger cultural shift. Women in sports are finally getting the recognition they deserve. We’re at the beginning of a new chapter and it’s time for our athletes to write their story. 

What started as an idea is now a reality. We’re less than five months away from the WPBL’s opening day on August 1st, 2026 and already so much has happened. The world has taken notice of what we’re doing, and hundreds of thousands of people have tuned in to follow along. People just like you. Thank you for supporting this league. For supporting women in baseball. You’re a part of this. A part of history. The next chapter begins this August. We hope you’ll join us in making history."