Central Florida’s Favorite Sports League/Organization
OUT Sports League is more than a sports league, it’s a community and safe space, and it is this year’s WAVE winner for Favorite Sports Organization.
John Teixeira, founder and commissioner of OUT Sports League, says he feels very humbled to see the organization win. He says it’s validating for what the league is doing for the queer community in Orlando.
“That just lets us know that we’re doing a good job and that the community appreciates that,” Teixeira says. “It’s letting us know that hopefully we’re living up to our standards as a very queer-friendly sports organization.”
OUT Sports League, which stands for Orlando United Together, is an LGBTQ+ recreational sports league that serves Central Florida.
Teixeira says the big secret about recreational queer sports is that a lot of people don’t join the league to play sports, they do it because they want to meet people.
“The league has gotten so enormous that I’ve had to quit my job, so this is now my full-time responsibility to give back to the league,” Teixeira says. “It is very gratifying and humbling that this is now my responsibility to give back to the community.”
In 2023, the league had 1,900 active players participating and since the league started has had over 3,000 players. The league currently offers kickball, dodgeball, cornhole, soccer, sand volleyball and indoor volleyball.
With the state of politics in Florida, Teixeira says it’s important to have a space for the LGBTQ+ community to feel safe in.
“It’s kind of nice to be an oasis in the desert for a lot of people in our community,” Teixeira says.
Teixeira says none of this would have happened without the community responding and participating.
“I like to tell people it takes players to have a league and it takes people to have a league,” Teixeira says.
