Profile
Surf and Sun provides a safe, comfortable environment for LGBTQ community to play softball in the Long Beach and Orange County area. While many of us simply play for fun, our affiliation with NAGAAA (North American Gay Amateur Athletics Alliance) and ASANA (Amateur Sports Alliance of North America) allows teams in our league to participate in the World Series Tournament.
Initially, the organization started out as the Southwest Athletic Team Supports (SWATS), but in 1983 joined with the well-respected North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance (NAGAAA). In 1985 the league held its first tournament on the Fourth of July weekend and appropriately named it the Surf and Sun Liberty Classic. The tournament has been played every year since with great success with teams from all across the country and Canada.
Ready to expand due to increased interest, we added the Women’s Division in the early 1990s. Later that decade we changed our name again to the Long Beach / Orange County Surf and Sun Softball League. This change was made to better define the area that most of our league members call home. In 2001, the league added another tournament called the Cranberry Cup to its schedule. This tournament was played over the Thanksgiving weekend. The Cranberry Cup only made 3 appearances, but was a precursor to what was to come in 2005. The California Quake rumbled into Palm Springs to fill the need for a local fall tournament.
