Lawrence Magali, left, and DeJay Johnson at Night OUT at the Nationals last week, one of Washington’s biggest annual LGBT sports events. (Photo by Kevin Majoros)

Last week, Team D.C. hosted the ninth annual Night OUT at the Nationals as roughly 4,000 members of the LGBT community came out to watch the Washington Nationals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 7-5.

Next up in the Night OUT series is Night OUT at the Kastles on July 22 as the Washington Kastles take on the Philadelphia Freedom at 7 p.m. The Kastles just drafted Martina Hingis, who will be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame on July 13. Tickets are $12 and can be found at teamdc.org.

The North American Gay Volleyball Association recently awarded the 2014 NAGVA Championships to Washington D.C. The event will run from May 23-25, 2014 and will be contested at the Washington Convention Center. The Championships will be co-hosted by Capital City Volleyball and New York-based Gotham Volleyball and is expected to draw about 135 teams with more than 1,000 players. NAGVA is online at nagva.org.

The District of Columbia Aquatics Club will be hosting the 22^nd annual Maryland Swim for Life on July 13 on the Chester River.  The event features 1-, 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-mile races.  Also this year, the swimmers are partnering with the DC Triathlon Club to offer a 2.4 mile Triathlon Challenge.

Proceeds from Swim for Life support a number of small local organizations such as Heart to Hand, Quality of Life Retreats, Metro TeenAIDS and the Chester River Association.  More information on the event along with volunteer opportunities can be found at swimdcac.org.

The Chesapeake and Potomac Softball League will be hosting the NAGAAA Gay Softball World Series from Aug. 26-31 at three separate complexes in the area. The tournament, the largest annual LGBT sporting event in the world, will welcome 170-plus teams participating in more than 600 softball games.

In total, they are expecting more than 4,000 athletes and fans visiting Washington for the weeklong tournament. More information on the event is at dcseries2013.com. The League can be found at capssoftball.org.

The inaugural Freedom Sports Festival will kick off on July 18-21 with six sports being contested all within the D.C. city limits.  Local LGBT sports teams will come together to host tournaments in beach volleyball, golf, racquetball, kickball, ballroom dancing and basketball.  Registration for the tournaments will open soon and will be posted at teamdc.org.

The Festival will open at the Team D.C. Champions Awards and College Scholarship reception on July 18 at George Washington University.  Former NFL player Wade Davis will be the guest speaker. Tickets are available at teamdc.org.

The festival will conclude with Pride Splash & Ride at Six Flags America on July 21 from 10:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m. The event will feature a private water park party from 7-10:30 p.m.  Tickets are available at capitalpride.org.

Members of the D.C. Gay Flag Football League just returned from a strong showing in Pride Bowl VI in Chicago which ran from June 27-30. The tournament featured 28 teams from across the United States with the Washington Generals finishing runner-up, the D.C. Commanders finishing third and the D.C. Admirals placing sixth. The players will travel to Phoenix for Gay Bowl XIII from Oct 10-14. The flag football league is at dcgffl.org.

The World Out Games will be contested from July 31 to Aug. 11 in Antwerp, Belgium in 33 different sports. A contingent from D.C. will be attending and a uniform has been organized for the opening ceremonies.  More information will be at teamdc.org.