Cincinnati Softball League Changes Idea That ‘Gays Don’t Play Sports’

Rivercity Softball League consists of 19 teams, ranging from competitive to recreational levels, that play once a week at the River City Sports Complex in Cincinnati’s California neighborhood. From humble beginnings as a small group of people playing casually in the 1980s, the league has grown to approximately 320 players, some of whom come all the way from Indianapolis to play.

Last year, the league sent a team to the Gay Softball World Series when Cincinnati became the 53rd city to join the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance (NAGAAA).

Rivercity’s success is a testament to both its dedication and the increasingly LGBTQ+-friendly atmosphere in Cincinnati, said Matt Zeis, league commissioner.

“Although (Cincinnati) tends to be a more conservative city, I think it has grown a lot in the last five, 10, 15 years,” he said.