The Wet Demons took the D division title at the Gay Softball World Series, one of three Atlanta teams to win their divisions at the recent competition. (Photo courtesy Wet Demons)
Hotlanta softball teams roll to national championships Local flag football, soccer teams meet different fates in tournaments
THE ATLANTA VENOM broke the stranglehold of Los Angeles teams at the top division of the Gay Softball World Series earlier this month, capturing first place and joining two other teams in bringing titles home to Atlanta.
The Venom, the last Hotlanta Softball League (HSL) team to win a World Series when it won in 2004, defeated the Houston Force in a come-from-behind victory on Oct. 5, capturing the title and in the process, dethroning the defending champs Los Angeles Vipers. Teams from Los Angeles have won the A division title in 12 of the last 14 seasons.
“You always have hopes of winning your division, but you never know because there are so many competitive teams,” said Rick McCracken, HSL’s open commissioner and a Venom player. “I was very surprised, excited and a bit nervous — it was everything rolled into one.”
HSL teams took three of the eight division titles at the World Series, an annual event of the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance. Some 185 teams from 30 cities — including 10 from Atlanta — competed in the event, held Oct. 1-6 in Phoenix. The Venom joined the Wet Demons, which won the D division title, in a Southern sweep of the Open Division. The Orlando Force (B) and Memphis Heat (C) won the other titles.
“When we had the chance to go for it, everyone laid it all on the line and we came away with a championship,” said Aaron Sones, coach of the Wet Demons, which made its first trip to the World Series. “We just played and peaked at the right time.”
On the women’s side, Atlanta Riptide won the A division to claim its first title, while Gamma Lite took third place in the D division. Other Women’s Division winners included Phoenix the Other Team (B), Seattle NW Connection (C) and Seattle Lunachix (D).
“I had faith that we would do well,” said Nina Cole, the Riptide’s coach and a member of the Atlanta Heat that won back-to-back titles beginning in 1997. “If we played like we normally play, there shouldn’t be a reason why we wouldn’t win. But you never know from one day to the next at the World Series.”
THE RESULTS WEREN’T as strong for the Atlanta Storm, one of 16 gay flag football teams that took part in Gay Superbowl 7 last weekend in New York City. The team hoped to make a run at the championship, which it did in 2005 when it lost in the final game. But the Storm placed ninth after winning the B bracket championship, two spots lower than its 2006 finish.
“It’s challenging because we had high expectations,” said Thurman Williams, a Storm player and president of the National Flag Football League of Atlanta. “We started off slowly, but we picked it up and said let’s win where we are.”
The Storm opened the tournament Oct. 5 with a 27-18 loss to the Washington Monuments, which won back-to-back titles in 2004-05. The New York Warriors won Superbowl 7, rolling to its second consecutive championship and a 12-game unbeaten streak over the last two championship tournaments.
“There are always one or two plays you rewind and wish you could do differently,” Williams said. “But the main thing for us is that we have tremendous talent and great guys. I’d take the same guys, the same spirit and come back and do it again without a doubt.”
IN BUENOS ARIES, the Heat from the hotlanta
Hotlanta Soccer Association reached its goal of competing in the top division in the Gay World Cup last month, but dropped a game to rival Florida Storm that ended its pursuit of the International Gay & Lesbian Football Association World Championship. The Heat finished last in the top division in the last Gay World Cup, held in 2005.
“It was a well-played tournament,” said Joe Organ, a Heat co-captain. “We beat the teams we were supposed to beat and lost to the ones we might have expected.”
The Heat lost its opening match to Dogos of Buenos Aries, which eventually won the Gay World Cup by defeating defending champs London Stonewall.
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