The City of Brotherly Love Softball League will open its season this weekend amid the usual fanfare and festivities — except, this year, it will pay special tribute to the league’s 30-year history of fostering LGBT softballers.
CBLSL will celebrate Opening Day April 21 in Fairmount Park with games in the morning followed by the opening ceremonies at 1:15 p.m. on Field One.
City Councilman Jim Kenney will throw out the first pitch and a barbeque will follow the opening ceremonies, as well as an Old Timers game that will reunite longtime and former CBLSL players. The day before the games, CBLSL and supporters will gather in the Gayborhood for a block party from 2-7 p.m. in front of Tavern on Camac, 243 S. Camac St.
The league’s anniversary season will look quite different than its first official season in play in 1984. The league, formerly known as the Masterbatters, started with five teams. This year, it will have 35 teams who play in three divisions — competitive, recreational and women’s.
The last division, said CBLSL commissioner Bob Lenahan, has seen remarkable growth in recent years.
“We hosted the women’s [Amateur Sports Alliance of North America] world series in 2011 and had almost 60 teams from across the country here, and that really helped promote our women’s division,” he said. “It’s almost doubled within the last five years.”
The league is challenged to recruit men to play in the competitive division, he added, a trend that many LGBT leagues across the country are also struggling with.
Former CBLSL commissioner Jeff Sotland helmed the league from 2005-10, during which he said the organization saw a 40- to 50-percent increase in membership.
Also in his tenure, the league entered a first-ever longterm field-improvement agreement with the city that requires the city to make capital improvements to the fields the organization uses.
The longterm investment of members has also helped the league thrive, said Sotland, a CBLSL member since 2000 who plays on Tabu Triple Play in the C segment of the competitive division.
“For such a long period of time, we’ve had founding members remain as players in the league. Presently, there’s still one who’s a founder member and who still plays,” he said. “And there have been many people who have taken on leadership roles in the league who have really understood what the league means and helped to get that message out.”
Lenahan, commissioner since 2010 and also a member of Tabu Triple Play, said the relationships that have formed among the players have also contributed to the league’s vitality.
“I think a lot of people look to the league, even if they’ve never played softball, as a great outlet for people to meet each other outside of the bars. They look for that alternative connection,” he said. “And once they start playing, people find camaraderie and really build strong relationships. The people in the league become like a second family. I’ve been playing for 10 years now and some of my best friends I met in the league. We really do have a family atmosphere, and that’s why we’ve grown so much.”
When the league opened up membership to straight players, Sotland said, there were fears that it could be a death knell for the organization.
But, those concerns were unfounded, he said.
“There was the expectation that, if the league opened up to more straight players, it’d eliminate the camaraderie that is the intent of the league, but we found just the opposite,” he said. “In a time when everything’s becoming more mainstream and gays and lesbians are spending more time in non-LGBT bars, we’re finding that everyone’s just as happy to be involved in our league, as they are in others in South Philly or the suburbs or New Jersey. It didn’t diminish the need for or importance of our league. We are one of the premiere leagues in Philadelphia and have maintained ourselves for 30 years as that.”
Lenahan said the league is limited in its growth, as it can only house so many teams based on its field space. But, he said, organizers hope to add a few more teams in the coming year and are always eager to gain new players from all backgrounds.
“We’re open to everybody. If you’ve never played before or if you’ve been playing for years — there’s a spot for everybody.”
For more information, visit www.cblsl.org or www.facebook.com/CBLSL?fref=ts.