Maxwell Alejandro Frost, Democratic candidate for U.S. House District 10, throws out the first pitch to kick off the 25th season of the CFSL. (Photo by Jeremy Williams)
ORLANDO | The Central Florida Softball League kicked off its 25th season at the Lake Fairview Softball Complex in Orlando Sept. 11.
The CFSL is a nonprofit established in 1997 dedicated to offering a safe and competitive athletic and social environment for the LGBTQ community, and their straight allies.
“We are very excited. It is the kickoff to our 25th season and it is something that has been in the works for quite a while now,” says CFSL commissioner Bobby Agagnina. “Today, we’ve been playing since 8:30 [a.m.] and we will be playing until about 2:30 [p.m.]. And we will be out here every Sunday.”
Agagnina, who became commissioner last December, has been with CFSL since 2016.
“I started just keeping book and being a fan, and now here I am as commissioner,” he says. “So it’s kind of surreal for me to be put into this position but earning the trust of everyone it is overwhelming.”
The league’s 25th season began first with a moment of silence for the lives lost Sept. 11, 2001 on the 21-year mark of the terrorist attack, followed by the National Anthem sung by the Orlando Gay Chorus. Then Maxwell Alejandro Frost, the Democratic candidate for U.S. House District 10, threw out the ceremonial first pitch to start the season.
“I’m running for Congress because we deserve better,” Frost said to the crowd, before throwing out the pitch. “Politics, law, medicine; that stuff is about making life sustainable but art, culture, sports, being together, that’s what makes life worth it.”
Frost spoke with Watermark after he threw out the ceremonial pitch, joking that he was a bit nervous but felt better when he heard he could throw it out underhand. Frost will be taking on Republican Calvin Wimbish in the Nov. 8 election and, if he wins the District 10 race, will become the first member of Gen Z to serve in Congress.
“This year has been one of the hardest years on our state for every marginalized community,” Frost said. “Our governor has been saying ‘every problem you have it is the fault of queer folks, Black folks, all the immigrants, Latinos, poor people,’ so any moments that we get together in spite of that and have this kind of joyful resistance of just about having a good time, not even talking about politics, we’re playing sports and I think it is really important because these are really radical acts in the state we are living in right now. So I’m going to do everything I can to support them.”
This year’s season will feature 39 teams with about 630 players in the league.
“We are running a nine-week season this year, every team gets 14 games and then we do have playoffs depending on standings,” Agagnina says. “We have a spring season and a fall season, so this fall season is exactly our 25 years of our league.”
Throughout the season, CFSL will have several opportunities for participants and fans to celebrate the league’s silver anniversary including a huge closing party at the season’s end in November as well as ways for the members to mingle with mixers at various host bars and CFSL sponsors.
“A lot of us grew up in sports but because we were closeted there was always this shame or discomfort that we couldn’t like sports or couldn’t be good at sports or participate in sports,” Agagnina says. “Here we are all together, we are all the same. We are all LGBTQ people, and our allies, who love sports and we have connected and built a family around that. That’s what we are celebrating this season.”
The Central Florida Softball League holds games every Sunday through Nov. 6. For more information, visit CFSLeague.org.
