North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance

rdf:langString North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance

rdf:langString The North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance (NAGAAA) is a non-profit, international association of gay and lesbian softball leagues. NAGAAA was founded in 1977 and the first elected Commissioner was Warren Shepell, from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and currently has 52 member leagues in the United States and Canada. The current Commissioner is John Deffee. NAGAAA recognizes seven divisions of play, from the competitive A rank through B, C, D and E teams, plus two Masters Divisions for players age 50 and above. NAGAAA also maintains a player rating system used to evaluate player skill levels to ensure safety and competitive play. While each member city operates independently, NAGAAA membership allows for a consistent framework for operating interleague play during numerous tournaments hosted by member cities and at the two annual NAGAAA hosted tournaments, the Gay Softball World Series (GSWS) for all divisions and the NAGAAA Cup Invitational tournament for A and B division teams. The 2019 GSWS held in Kansas City includes "208 teams and is expected to attract more than 5,000 people." The NAGAAA has grown to more than 3,000 teams and 25,000 participants. The GSWS is the largest annual, LGBTQ, "single-sport, week-long athletic competition in the world." Prior to 2007, there was also a division for all female teams but the Amateur Sports Alliance of North America was formed from NAGAAA in 2007.