Waxhaw Challenge Baseball

Waxhaw Athletic Association offers our Challenge Baseball program as a competitive alternative to "travel baseball" for skilled recreational players. This program is designed for players in older age groups who demonstrate advanced abilities and are seeking a more challenging tournament environment to further develop and refine their skills.

Challenge teams from WAA compete in the Carolina Challenge Baseball League (CCBL), in association with HQ4 Baseball, which facilitates local, competitive tournaments with a reasonable cost and time commitment. These tournaments feature teams from other area organizations that follow a similar team selection process.

Eligibility & Seasons

Participation in the Waxhaw Challenge Baseball program is open to baseball players aged 7 to 13 who are also part of the league's regular recreational season. The program operates in two distinct seasons:

  • Spring Season: Running from February through mid-summer. All players participating in the Spring Challenge program are required to play on a regular spring season recreational team.
  • Fall Season: Starting in late August and concluding in late fall. Players in the fall Challenge program are not required to participate in the fall recreational league.

Team Selection & Costs

A tryout is mandatory for all players wishing to join the Challenge program. Registration is required prior to tryouts. A panel of coaches conducts these evaluations of players, and not all players who try out will be selected for a team. Players are drafted to teams based on their performance during the tryouts. Those not selected may have the option to be placed in a pool of alternate/substitute players. Additional fees are required for players who are selected for a Challenge team.

Waxhaw Challenge Baseball

Our Challenge Program offers a higher level of competition, while still being part of the Recreational Baseball Program. As mentioned, players must be registered to play Recreational Baseball in order to play on a Challenge team during the Spring Baseball Season. This is not a requirement for the Fall Baseball Season.

  • Practices: Challenge teams typically practice 2x per week (1x on tournament weeks)
  • Tournaments: These are held on Sundays only. The WXW Challenge Program would target 4-5 tournaments per season with typically two(2) games per tournament and are typically held locally in the Charlotte area.
  • Seasons: The Spring season would begin in February and would target completion in mid/late April, at which point Waxhaw would begin to form our All Star teams in order to prepare them for the State tournaments. Similarly in the Fall, the season would start in early September and wrap up in late October or early November.

Similar to other types of competitive programs, the WXW Challenge Program is by invitation only, offered after an open try out. Depending on the interest level, we may offer options at each age division. If there is not enough interest, there would be a limited number of divisions and/or teams or none at all if there is not enough interest. 

Age Divisions

7U, 8U, 9U, 10U, 11U, & 12U

The age divisions are based on your player's age as of April 30th of the upcoming year.

If you are interested in either program for your player, please be on the lookout for tryout dates for your specific age group. Please contact Greg Pennisi at gregorypennisi@hotmail.com for more info and challenge coach contact information.