Hot Springs Named Host for High School Weekend of Champions For Baseball, Softball, Soccer, Joining Basketball, Cross Country
DATE: JANUARY 16, 2026
HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK, Arkansas — Hot Springs was named Thursday to be the host city for the next three years for the Arkansas Weekend of Champions competition in baseball, softball and soccer.
The Arkansas Activities Association, which governs high school sports competition in the state, selected Hot Springs’ Majestic Park baseball/softball complex as the site for the 2026 competition in those sports and Hot Springs Lakeside High School’s stadium for the soccer championships.
Majestic Park, which made its first bid for the Weekend of Champions, was chosen over Rogers and Benton. This year's baseball and softball championship games will be held May 21-23 at Majestic Park. The soccer championship games will take place May 22-23 at Lakeside.
“This is wonderful news for Hot Springs,” Majestic Park General Manager Derek Phillips said. “We’re really looking forward to hosting teams from all over Arkansas at our facility, which is recognized as one of the best complexes in the region. I know these high school teams will enjoy competing on the very site where baseball immortals Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Jackie Robinson and Honus Wagner practiced and played when Hot Springs was acknowledged as the Birthplace of Major League Baseball Spring Training.
“Lakeside High School’s unrivaled sports facilities, which are already acknowledged as among the state’s best, will be perfect for the soccer championships.”
Visit Hot Springs CEO Steve Arrison said, “What great news for our city. As always, the competing teams, their parents and fans will experience the unrivaled hospitality that Hot Springs has to offer. Let the games begin.
“Derek and his team at Majestic Park have scored another out-of-the-park homer for Hot Springs. They are amazing in their dedication to maintaining a sports complex that impresses everyone who sees or knows about it.”
Hot Springs' Majestic Park won the right to host the state championship games for high school baseball, softball and soccer this year through 2028 as a result of voting of the Arkansas Activities Association's board of directors Thursday afternoon in North Little Rock.
Earlier this week, it was announced that eight collegiate teams from four states — Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas — will compete starting January 30 in the fifth annual Dugan Invitational Baseball Tournament at Majestic Park.
The tournament, which runs through February 1, will see competition among Southern Arkansas University (SAU), Henderson State University (HSU), Ouachita Baptist University (OBU), the University of Arkansas Monticello (UAM), Oklahoma Baptist, Pittsburg (Kan.) State University (PSU), Fort Hays (Kan.) State University (FHS), and Missouri Southern State University (MSSU).
For more information contact Derek Phillips, 501/359-2414, dphillips@majesticpark.org.