Tarik Pierce says each Stonewall Kickball team has its own dynamic and personality. (Photo by John Jack Photography)

This week in the ongoing Washington Blade series on the rookies and veterans of the LGBT sports teams in D.C., we take a look at two gay athletes from Stonewall Kickball.

Three leagues from Stonewall Sports will come together to host the Stonewall Sports 2015 Summer Tournament this weekend which will be contested at multiple locations in D.C. and will feature players from the Stonewall expansion cities. Some 550 players will compete in three sports that will include 25 kickball teams, 10 dodgeball teams and 16 dart teams. About 100 spectator/friends will also be arriving in town to cheer the teams on.

Scott Rodney grew up in Massachusetts and south Florida and played soccer from middle school to high school along with playing on a travel team. He left sports behind while attending Tallahassee Community College and Florida State University.

While he was working as a manager at Olive Garden, he traveled to Annapolis to visit a friend and fell in love with D.C. He took a transfer with the restaurant chain and committed to one year of employment so they would pay his moving expenses.

He found himself playing in the Nakid Kickball league, a straight D.C. league, and in January of this year, a friend mentioned Stonewall Kickball and he went to a league mixer.

Rodney registered for the spring 2015 league and according to Stonewall rules, you have three weeks to find a place on a team or you become a free agent. He ended up on a team, the 21st Amendments, that is half veterans and half rookies.

“I was pretty shy at first, but the veterans were very welcoming and kept inviting me to all the activities,” Rodney says. “Every time I had a question about the rules, they were there to show me the ropes.”

Rodney says he definitely wants to become more involved in Stonewall and has already participated in the drag kickball event and the Queen drag competition between the teams at JR.’s.

Rodney is now working as an administrative assistant at a law firm and will be heading back to school this fall.

“I have never seen a community like what I have found at Stonewall,” Rodney says. “It really puts everything in perspective.”

Tarik Pierce only played little league baseball growing up in Florence, S.C. His extracurricular activity in high school was marching band and besides taking up running, he did not participate in sports at Clemson University.

His job with the Department of Commerce brought him to D.C. and he has since transitioned to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Living in D.C. has brought out Pierce’s sporty side and he is entrenched in the LGBT sports community having played in leagues for flag football, kickball, darts, bocce and dodgeball.

Pierce and a group of 20 friends were originally playing in the World Adult Kickball Association league until they began to experience gay slurs from the other players. In the spring of 2011, they took their team and headed to Stonewall Kickball, then in its second season.

“Stonewall is a little raucous, but there’s nothing like it,” Pierce says. “People come together every Sunday and each team has its own dynamic and personality.”

For Pierce, it wasn’t really a social outlet when he became a part of a team with 20 of his friends. It was just a new activity and he says it added a new dimension to their friendship and brought them closer together.

As the years progressed, Pierce found himself stepping forward as a leader. He is currently on the board of Stonewall Darts, is a division leader for Stonewall Dodgeball and along with playing, is an umpire for Stonewall Kickball. He’ll be in the tournament this weekend with his team, the Ballstars.

“It’s my theory that if you become a part of a community, at some point you should step forward as a leader,” Pierce says. “I make sure that my team is involved in the fundraisers and the charitable community support.”

Pierce has also shown his altruistic side by recently stepping aside as the captain of his kickball team.

“My focus is different because I want everyone to have the chance to have the experiences I have had,” Pierce says. “You shouldn’t keep taking away from something like this; you should give back to it.”

Scott Rodney says his teammates were very welcoming when he started in Stonewall Kickball. (Photo courtesy Rodney)