The summer season has officially arrived at USA Baseball as the spotlight awaits for hundreds of young baseball players itching to lace ‘em up and step in between the white lines all summer long.

From the grassy plains of Cary, North Carolina, to the desert heat in Peoria, Arizona, the National Team Championships are officially underway with the next generation of USA Baseball stars beginning their quest in hopes to dawn the red, white and blue.

Champs tournaments have become a staple of identifying the best young talent across the country. Travel squads loaded with rising stars have the chance each year to showcase their game on the biggest stage. Through several days of constant competition, the best of the best can make their presence felt in front of scouts and national team coaches.

Out west, Champs Arizona brings together some of the most highly touted travel ball programs to the valley of the sun for four weeks of nonstop action, competition, and memories that only USA Baseball can provide. For Champs AZ director Jeff Feltman, he knows that this tournament just means more.

“This is one of two tournaments in the entire country where you get the opportunity to play for USA Baseball. Unlike other tournaments, there's an end goal to it individually — not even just team-based. You're playing for your team, representing your family, your city, your state, your team, but you're also representing yourself and trying to earn a spot to play international baseball for the United States and represent the USA on your chest,” said Feltman.

One of the key differences between Champs AZ and NC is the field of competition. In Arizona, the battle for gold spans across 64 teams, while North Carolina sees 16- and 20-team fields.

“The teams that make it to the championship day (in Arizona), that win bronze, silver, and gold, aren’t fighting against 16 or 20 teams, they're fighting against 64 teams,” said Feltman.

“It just speaks so much about making it further into the tournament, when you can play up to eight games to play every game in this tournament, and getting to the championship stage is a heck of an accomplishment.”

The first age to step to the plate in hopes of rounding home with a gold medal around their neck will be 17U – arguably the highest-level of competition setting the tone from the jump.

“With 17U starting out first, there's just that max excitement where everyone's kind of antsy and ready to go,” said Feltman.

“Since these players are older, the number of colleges, agents and scouts that will be out here definitely makes the event successful, and it's just cool seeing how many people come together for one event.”

USA Baseball will play host to four tournaments in Arizona, showcasing some of the best talent in the country to the biggest scouts across professional, collegiate, and USA Baseball national teams at the home of MLB Spring Training complexes, such as the Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres, Kansas City Royals, and Texas Rangers.

Over at the USA Baseball National Training Complex, Champs NC is set to showcase plenty of familiar faces and USA Baseball alumni. Champs has a different way of impacting everyone, and each perspective is essential to what makes these tournaments so impactful. For 12U and 15U National Team alumni Tristin Gaines, it’s the opportunity to compete in a familiar place.

“It’s really exciting, I get to come back with my brothers,” Gaines said. “We come here almost every year, so it’s like a second home for us and for me.”

Champs NC consistently provides a first-class experience that radiates constant excitement for everyone involved. The energy is unmatched and top-tier competition is always on display.

“You see real good arms here and you play great players,” Gaines explained. “The atmosphere and the fields are great and competing for first place against the top guys in the country, some who have been on USA teams makes it a real good place.”

Every coach hopes to have their team face elite national talent, and this environment offers the perfect benchmark. As a coach for the 2025 16U champions Stacked - KC Royals Scout Team, Mikey Durante is back with the squad now competing in 17U this year and he reflected on how significant the tournaments are for the futures of their athletes.

“There’s USA Baseball staff and head coaches at power conference schools all out here,” Durante explained. “So just giving them the opportunity and limelight to go present their best tools in front of some of the best eyes in all of baseball and against the best talent in the country. It’s a steppingstone into the big leagues.”

While going for gold is the goal for each club, the opportunity to earn an invite for a national team training camp and potentially represent their country is each player’s mission. For Marc Nellist, coach of USA Prime National, presenting his players with a chance to earn an invite to a USA Baseball national team training camp is the ultimate prize.

“Now coming here [North Carolina], it’s a big step up,” Nellist said. “Every game you play, you’d better bring your A-game, and to compete here in front of the [USA] staff has been huge for our families and our players to be able to get in front of those guys and hopefully get an opportunity to wear the red, white, and blue.”

The summer promises intensity, passion, and the kind of baseball that defines champions. For both tournaments in North Carolina and Arizona, this will be the proving ground for many athletes as they compete for a spot on the USA Baseball national team. The road to play for Team USA starts through these championships, making USA Baseball the place to be.