In November 2024, a simple question sparked something far bigger than anyone expected: What if we did youth sports differently? Eleven months later, the Midlothian Invaders - an all-neighborhood 10U travel baseball team rooted deeply in Chesterfield Little League -closed out their inaugural year as one of the most compelling youth sports stories in the region. They ended their fall 2025 season on an 11–3 hot streak, earning 2nd place in the USSSA Virginia 10U AA Fall State Tournament as the #1 seed, falling just short in the finals to the Burke Bulldogs. But ask their coaches or families, and they’ll tell you the real victory isn’t measured in brackets or medals - it’s measured in culture.

Head Coach Greg Juanarena and his staff launched the Invaders with a mission that flips the traditional travel-ball mentality on its head. “Our goal is to develop the whole kid - character first, athleticism second, baseball talent third,” Greg says. “If we do things the right way, winning becomes a symptom.”

With 11 kids who all play at Chesterfield Little League - and parents who collectively coach 14 Little League teams - the Invaders were built to be community-driven from the start, the players even created their own identity: name, mascot, and colors. All the coaches did was hand them the tools.

The early days were humble. Practices in a garage. Borrowed fields across the county. No tournament history. Just a vision and families who believed in it. Greg says it best: “We’re running a marathon, not a sprint. You can’t win the race in the first mile - but you can lose it.”

The Invaders welcome multi-sport athletes, a rarity in travel baseball today. Kids miss practices for football games, basketball tryouts, recitals - even family vacations - without guilt. “I’d rather leave them wanting more,” Greg says, “than burn them out.”

Another defining trait: the spring Little League season comes first. Greg wants these kids to chase the possibility of playing in Williamsport before age makes that dream fade.

And unlike programs that keep parents on the sidelines, the Invaders pull them in. Greg believes deeply in shared leadership: “No great leader says they have too much help. We build community, not hierarchy.”

The Invaders operate around three pillars:

Greg encourages kids to apply these values beyond baseball. “Find the kid sitting alone at recess and say, ‘Come play with us.’ You may never know when you can change someone’s life.”

Like every team, the Invaders went through the classic phases: Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing. Their biggest test came early, when they were outscored 27–4 in a single weekend. Many teams implode during a stretch like that. The Invaders didn’t. They leaned in, refined their process, and trusted their approach. Slowly, the tide turned. Wins came. Confidence grew. And by the end of the fall, they were playing their best baseball of the year.

Greg’s coaching philosophy is shaped heavily by the mentors who guided him. His Little League coach, his best friend’s dad, still gives him advice today, more than 25 years later. His childhood travel team formed a lifelong brotherhood, one that celebrated weddings and milestones together. More recently, Heath Eslinger - former head wrestling coach at UT Chattanooga and Greg's mentor with the Midlothian Miners (where Greg coaches and several Invaders wrestle in the winter) has deeply influenced the Invaders' approach, a commitment to building the whole kid.  “That’s what I want for our kids,” Greg says. “Not just to play baseball, but to build relationships that last.”

Like many aspects of the program, parent volunteers are essential to the Invaders' success.  With help from a team mom and certified trainer Lauren Aronson, the Invaders incorporate mobility, movement training, and athletic foundations into their program. It’s not about lifting heavy weights - it’s about teaching kids how to move well, stay healthy, and build functional strength that translates across all sports. “We can actually see their athleticism improving,” Greg says. “This benefits them no matter what sport they choose long term.”

Greg and his wife, Lauren, both former Radford University athletes, have lived in the Midlothian area for 13 years and in Hallsley for five. Their son, Theo, plays on the Invaders. Their daughter, CeCe, is a budding gymnast with the same unstoppable spirit. Greg coaches wrestling with the Midlothian Miners and serves on the Chesterfield Little League board, embedding the family even deeper in this community they love.

The Invaders’ season may have ended, but their journey is just getting started. “This team represents something bigger than baseball,” Greg says. “It’s about building young men of character. If we do that right, the baseball takes care of itself.”

A trophy marks a moment.
Character builds a legacy.
The Midlothian Invaders are building theirs—one inning at a time.