I definitely remember my first time playing with the San Francisco Gay Basketball League 15 years ago at this point. I found out about an organized pickup game from a friend and decided to check it out. The skill level varied but the overall quality of play was good. What stuck out to me the first time was that the basketball didn’t feel any different from playing in any other setting, except usually after playing I would just leave. When we all went to the bar together after it felt like I had found my people.

Neill Sullivan. The nicest person you’ll ever meet with a mean midrange game. He was one of the first people I met in the league and was always welcoming and friendly to everybody, which sort of set the tone for everybody. We formed a team that played in tournaments together for years and always had the best time.

Oooooh boy. So many to choose from. It might have been my first time playing with DC after moving here, when we went down 16 at half in an elimination game. After a fairly aggressive pep talk everyone on the team started playing possessed and we ended up winning that game and our division championship 💪

Lol sure… there was one tourney where I may have had several too many the night before and showed up at the court a haggard mess, then proceeded to hit five straight threes out of the gate against the defending champion Rockdogs.

It’s hard to overstate how much of a positive impact being part of this community has had on my life. I’ve made so many great friends through the years at this point I feel like I know people from basketball in every city I visit. My partner, who doesn’t play basketball, often comes to tournaments too, sometimes with other friends, and they’re always the most fun trips we take.

Have fun and play hard during the games, then win or lose, understand that the best part is the camaraderie with your teammates and with everyone else involved afterwards. The most fun group of people as you could possibly meet.