Welcome back to your monthly LGBT sports digest. Summer is here, even though it seemed to take its time arriving, and with it brings a whole slew of tournaments, events, and activities that could be fun for you and yours.
Photo Credit: John Chen
Dragon boat
On May 17th, the One World Dragon Boat team from Charlotte competed in the Asian festival’s annual Charlotte Dragon Boat Festival Races on Lake Norman at Ramsey Creek. The team was able to capture the bronze medal in their division. Last year they won Silver, however they improved their time this year by almost five seconds.
Next, the team competed in the 7th Annual Lure of Dragon Race and Festival held on Lake Lure in Rutherford County. It took place on June 14th. At the end of the day, the One World Dragon Boat team walked away with Gold in the Mixed Open Division.
The team encourages any and all to come out to see what the world of Dragon Boat racing is all about by attending a race or other events where the sport is featured.
Also, the team is looking for sponsors to help fund their plan to buy their very own dragon boat. Donations, big and small, are welcome! To find out how to help, visit oneworlddragonboat.org.
Softball
On Memorial Day weekend, Atlanta hosted their annual Big Peach Softball tournament. This event saw 50 teams come from all over the United States to compete in one of the largest softball tournaments in the Southeast. Unlike the previous month’s Southern Shootout in Birmingham, Ala., this tournament was extremely well-run and organized, with much better fields to play on.
In the C Division, the home town Atlanta Sharks took home the championship over the Boston X-Factors, with the Dallas Woody’s Wrecking Crew coming in third place. For the D Division, the Tampa Osos barely edged out the Knoxville Cyclones for the title, with the Ft. Lauderdale Village Pub Underdogs taking home third place.
The next big softball tournament in our region is the MNSA Classic being held in Nashville, Tenn., July 5th and 6th. Following that, Knoxville, Tenn., will hold their own tournament called the K-Town Klassic August 2nd and 3rd. For registration information and other details, check out their websites:Â mnsasoftball.com/ and sites.google.com/site/ktownklassic/home, respectively.
Photo Credit: Derby Retina
Roller Derby
The ladies of the Gastonia G*Force scored a big win June 8th when they hosted the Marietta Derby Darlins. The team was dominant throughout, holding a 33-91 point lead at half time. They continued to hold the gas pedal down and routed the team from Georgia 166-107.
That same weekend the Charlotte Roller Girls went to Charlottesville, Va., to take on the Derby Dames. The bout was much closer than Gastonia, but in the end, the Charlotte team was able to edge Charlottesville 157-150. This puts them at 6-2 on the season with bouts against Crime City and Long Island in the East Coast Derby Extravaganza June 21st and 22nd in Philadelphia.
For more information about squads, check out Carolina-based teams’ Facebook pages at facebook.com/gforcederby and facebook.com/pages/Charlotte-Roller-Girls/137193442969676.