“Kickball can totally be a HotMess,” said Derrick Lachney, creator of Nashville’s first gay kickball league. Which is also called “HotMess Kickball Nashville.”
While he was living in Washington, D.C. for three years, Lachney participated in the city’s league called “Stonewall Kickball.” His team name was “HotMess Kickers” there and here in Nashville when he moved. When he expanded his idea into a league, he felt like “HotMess” was his go to name.
“After just one season of playing in this league, I had met double the people I knew before and I really felt like a part of D.C.'s gay community,” he said.
The main reason he wanted to create the league was to bring the GLBT community together. “Being involved in something like this can get us out of our shells and more willing to be open to new people and ideas,” Lachney said.
The response has been overwhelming. He had planned on keeping the registration open for two months so the league could get a least 90 people and six teams. He said, “In less then a month I had to close registration because we had reached our max; 130 people and eight teams.”
In the inaugural season, there are some really interesting team names: The Balled and the Beautiful, The Real House Balls of Nashville, Not In The Face and The Balls of Glory, just to name a few.
“Now that softball season is officially over … I’m ready for some kickball,” said Markeyta Stanton on HotMess’s Facbook page.
The games are on Sundays from 3-7 p.m. in East Nashville at East Park. The start of the season is Sept. 19. The league is sponsored by Tribe and PLAY Dance Bar.
He plans on doing this again next spring for those who did not get a chance to play in the fall. For more information, visit www.hotmesskickball.com.