Community Sports: The ALFA Omegas Softball Team
Outside of schools and occupations, women’s sports are an important part of community life. In search of a way to build community, the Atlanta Lesbian Feminist Alliance started a softball team, the ALFA Omegas, in 1974. The team was the first out lesbian softball team to join the Atlanta leagues. The ALFA Omegas provided socialization, community support, and fun for lesbian women.
ALFA was a political and social and educational kind of organization. Socially, a lot of things were [done] just so people’d get to know each other and do things together. One of the things that developed was, some of the jock-type people would like to go out and do touch football, or play basketball, or do some kind of sport thing. And then, someone had the idea of, why don’t we have a regular softball team?
Lorraine Fontana, interviewed by Hillery Rink, October 29, 2012
“The ALFA Omegas, in the spirit of lesbian feminism, were a non-competitive softball team. And what that meant was that if you came to the practices, you played in the games, regardless of skill level, regardless of experience, regardless of athletic ability.”
Frances Pici, interviewed by Lorraine Fontana, June 7, 2014
ALFA Omegas changed my life. It was a way for us to come together as a team, we had such fun. We really didn’t even know each other existed, and now we’re in an environment where we’re coming together in a relatively traditional teamwork framework.
Frances Pici, interviewed by Lorraine Fontana, June 7, 2014
