A BRIEF HISTORY
Welcome to GAAY Sports! GAAY is an acronym for GLBTQIA+ Athletes, Allie, and You! We started in 2022 when the founder moved back to Michigan and wanted to play kickball with other members of the LGBTQIA+ Community. The very first league in June of 2022 was a 44 person kickball league. Just barely enough people to have the league. Everyone had a great time and suggested he continue to pursue the organization so in the fall we had our second kickball league and grew to 55 people. Fall 2022 also saw the addition of axe throwing added to the the organization with 12 people in the inaugural league.
2023, really saw things explode. In January we added a bowling league with 48 participants. February saw dodgeball get added and had 64 participants. In the spring we went back to the kickball fields and in our third season of kickball we exploded 145 participants! The summer saw the addition of sand volleyball and a quarterly cornhole tournament. In addition we hosted Lansing's first-ever LGBTQIA+ Family Potluck BBQ. All told, in 2023, Lansing leagues had a combined 750+ registered participants. Not bad for its first full year in existence!
We added some online games to our mix in 2023 with a March Madness Tournament Pick'em and Fantasy Football. 2023 also saw the addition of leagues in two new cities. Flint had a bowling league and Grand Rapids had two seasons of kickball, with both seasons having over 80 participants! Bringing the total participants for GAAY Sports in 2023 to just shy of 1,000!
2024 is shaping up to be just as amazing. Lansing hopes to add indoor volleyball, shuffleboard, and pickleball this year. We hope to expand the sports offered in Grand Rapids and add Ann Arbor to the cities we serve. Lots of exciting things still to come, so check back often to see if there is something offered that you might want to be a part of!
Our first league had only 44 participants, but kickball quickly grew to over 140 in just under a year.
Our first champion was Snatch It! Our only all lesbian team claimed the first-ever championship!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. Why do you list the "G" first instead of the "L"?
We fully understand the universally accept way of listing the letters is LGBTQIA+ and anywhere in text that we use the letters we do so in that order. HOWEVER, for the purpose of naming our organization, LAAY Sports didn't have the same ring and Gay Sports was taken. So, we chose to use an acronym putting the G first.
It is also our belief, that if the order of the letters means that much to you, then you are missing the point of what building a unified community is all about.
2. HOW DO WE GET A LEAGUE IN OUR CITY?
GAAY Sports is entirely volunteer led. We would be happy to help you organize and get something going in your city, but it will only happen if someone local is willing to volunteer their time in 1)finding the location to have it at, 2)marketing the program and recruiting people to participate, and 3)running the leagues on game day. If you, and/or some of your friends are seriously willing to do the work necessary, then contact nicholas@gaaysports.com to discuss the possibilities!
3. MY CHILD IS IN HIGH SCHOOL, CAN THEY PLAY IN YOUR LEAGUE?
Unfortunately, at this time, all of our leagues require that you be at least 18 years of age. For liability reasons, this is not going to change anytime in the near future. However, many people brings their kids to the events as spectators are almost always welcome! Furthermore, we are looking to host the first-ever high school LGBTQIA+ sporting event ever this spring when we put on a statewide kickball tournament. Details on that coming soon!