More than 1,000 softball players from across the country came to San Diego to compete in the 2023 ASANA World Series.
“San Diego pretty much plans for 18 months to be the host city and brings 1,300 players plus their families to the destination,” Veronica Rivera, a co-chair on the host committee, said.
ASANA, also known as the Amateur Sports Alliance of North America, is a nonprofit that focuses on LGBTQ+ women in sports.
“You can come out here and play,” Rivera, who is also on a San Diego-based team sponsored by Gossip Grill, added. “Show up as your most authentic self and have a safe space to be here.”
Get San Diego local news, weather forecasts, sports and lifestyle stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC San Diego newsletters.
Angela Smith, the Executive Director of ASANA, told NBC 7 that there are 29 member cities in the U.S., including six from California.
“Honestly, ASANA is a family,” Smith said. “If we were missing a letter from ASANA it would be F.”
Smith shared that the tournament is a way to bring LGBTQ+ women together in a welcoming, but competitive, environment.
Local
“It’s not about politics and the outside world,” she said. “We come together and we know who we are, we celebrate it, and we don’t have to worry about anyone else.”
Tournament games were held at three locations in San Diego County, including Sportsplex USA Santee, Sportsplex USA Poway and Mount San Miguel Park. It is the third time that San Diego has hosted teams for the ASANA World Series, and it likely will not be the last.
“San Diego is a really inclusive destination, and so to bring the women’s ASANA world series here is huge,” Rivera said.
For more information on ASANA and the tournament, click here.
