Hosts of the game. Elevated for you.

Tommie Douglas used his connections from playing in the Houston gay softball league to get a copy of their bylaws. Tim Blunk, Ron Chenoweth, and Scott Young used those bylaws to draft the Suncoast Softball League’s initial bylaws. The original officers were; President: Steve White, Vice President: Rick Ritt, Secretary: Tim Blunk, Treasurer: Scott Young, and Sargent of Arms: Tommie Douglas. In 1994, several of the leaders from the Suncoast Softball League went to the iPride Meeting in Nashville to petition for membership. In the photo from left to right are: Steve White, Patti, Barb Dorn, Tim Blunk, Rick Ritt, and Tommie Douglas.

Scott Young got the original City Side Lounge softball team to join the Suncoast Softball League in 1993.  Many on this team provided the necessary leadership for the newly formed league. New players with different skill levels were coming out to the practices...folks that didn't know how to hold a bat or throw a ball to folks that had played in leagues for years. Most were closeted and reluctant to participate in a gay softball league for fear of being outed. Once the league realized there were enough players to start the league, the City Side softball team agreed to split up its players to ensure a better balance of skillsets and to help mentor new players.
Steve White agreed to act as our representative and went to the City of Tampa Parks and Recreation Department and submitted the application to secure fields for the new league. Unfortunately, his request was not accepted with opened arms. The City of Tampa Parks and Recreation Department said they "didn't want our kind" and refused to give us permission to secure the fields.  Fortunately, Steve White's mother was a secretary for the then Tampa Mayor, Sandy Freidman. His mom took it upon herself to speak with the mayor about what had happened. The mayor intervened, mandating the City of Tampa Parks and Recreation Department provide the league with the needed facilities. This allowed the members to move forward with a softball league of their own.
Suncoast Softball League was given a field to play on in Gadsden Park on Friday nights once the teams had been formed. After the games ended each week, players would gather at a host bar. Each week the bars were packed and became the place to be on Friday nights.
Unfortunately, the league had to deal with more controversy during its first season. The field the league had been assigned to play on was next to another field being used by a Church League. After a few weeks into the season, the Church League had figured out the Suncoast Softball League was a gay softball league. They began coming over to our field and preaching to league’s players, and several confrontations occurred. This caused some of players to leave the league for fear of being outed. Steve White, with the help of Mayor Sandy Friedman, was able to get police officers to be onsite to ensure that league members could play without harassment from the Church League. The following season the City of Tampa agreed to move the league to Hyde Park where there was only one field.

The Suncoast Softball League is now finishing their 32nd year of gay softball and have 21 teams participating in three divisions of play. In addition, the league hosts one of the largest LGBTQIA+ softball events of its kind, the Gasparilla Softball Classic. Over 1,000 athletes and fans descend upon Tampa each February for a fun-filled weekend of softball renewing old friendships, and making new ones. Teams come from as far west as Oregon and as far north as Canada.
Teams from Tampa also travel to other member city tournaments held around the country and in Canada. We participate annually in the iPride Cup and Gay Softball World Series (GSWS). Our league has had three first place finishes in the GSWS. During the 2005 GSWS, Tampa Titans won the D Division. During the 2012 GSWS, Tampa Venom won the C Division. During the 2015 GSWS, Tampa Pitch Slapped won the D Division. Tampa hosted the 2018 GSWS, which included 194 teams and over 5,000 athletes, friends, and family. In 2026, Tampa will be hosting the iPride Cup on Memorial Day Weekend.
The league isn’t just about softball. Events are held year-round at sponsor locations, including our annual fund raiser, SSL’s Got Talent. Local charities are selected each year by the league and everything raised during this event is donated to them.