O&AN Contributer
If you build it, they will come. We’ve all heard that worn out line too many times to count, but it is a neoclassic thanks to the good looks of Kevin Costner and America’s love of baseball.
There is something being built here in Nashville that has had many followers, and is soon to come into the national spotlight. The Music City Softball League has been growing exponentially, and one team that has been at the heart of that growth and success is the Lipstick Lounge. That team is sponsored by its namesake and by Richard Pierce King Architect.
Last year the team went to the NAGAAA Gay Softball World Series in Dallas, Texas in the Women’s Alternative Division. The team drove to Dallas all night long on the day before their first game. It was a very competitive tournament, and the team was tired from the travel but was able to perform under the circumstances. It was the first World Series appearance by a women’s team from Nashville. The Lipstick Lounge team made an extraordinary showing, losing in extra innings by two runs to the team that took the Championship.
This year the team took their core group of players from last year and made some additions, with the plan of winning locally, and then moving on to take the World Series Championship away from Seattle at this year’s event. The team has been successful in the first part of their task. They are undefeated in the MCSL. They have built what they set out to build here in Nashville. Next on their agenda is that championship.
The World Series this year is being held August 15-20 in San Diego. The team now knows what is required of them to win the title, and has put tremendous expectations on itself to achieve it. The trip to San Diego is costly for the 20+ women that will be going. The total cost will be approximately $30,000, which includes airfare, hotel, van rental to get to and from the ballpark, and food and water. The team has gotten creative and come up with some ways to raise these funds, but is also seeking assistance from outside parties for additional sponsorship opportunities.
There will be a Golf Scramble on July 9, and there are additional sponsorship packages available. One benefit of being an additional sponsor of this year’s team is the national exposure, as well as local coverage. The sponsorship packages include company signage on the women’s shirts, as well as logos and website addresses on banners that will be displayed to the 6,000+ national attendees during the World Series games from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day.
NAGAAA, which is the organization which runs the World Series each year, has been to Nashville, and is considering Nashville as the host city for 2007. The investment that a company may make in this team is one that could multiply when Nashville hosts more than 1,000 players and more than 5,000 fans from all over the country.
The team is also taking donations at Bank of America locations. Just ask for the "Lipstick Lounge Women’s Softball World Series Fund" at any Bank of America branch in the U.S.
For more information on sponsorship opportunities, please contact nashvillewomenchamps@yahoo.com, or call the Lipstick Lounge at 226-6343.
