The new year is shaping up to be huge for the Washington Scandals Rugby Team. In May they had to Nashville for the Bingham Cup. (Photo by Kevin Majoros)

It was another stellar year for the LGBT sports teams of Washington. The strength of the sports community can be seen in the performances of the athletes when they travel nationally and internationally to compete. The social aspect of the community continues to expand as many of the teams are sharing mixers and the athletes are crossing over to other sports.

The Washington Scandals Rugby Football Club continued their path of competing in tournaments and arranging matches with other rugby clubs. This fall they traveled to Charleston, S.C.; New York City and Atlanta. In May, the Scandals will go to Nashville for the Bingham Cup.

It was a great first year for D.C. Pride Volleyball League as they completed their first two seasons of their competitive league and hosted open play on Wednesday nights. They also hosted the Rehoboth Beach Open and Presidents Pride Cup tournaments.

The D.C. Gay Flag Football League had another great year wrapping up two more seasons, traveling to tournaments and hosting Beach Bowl in July in Rehoboth Beach, Del. In October they will host Gay Bowl XVI and welcome teams from all over the country.

The District of Columbia Aquatics Club again hosted the Maryland Swim for Life open water race, the Columbus Classic and traveled to the EuroGames in Stockholm, Sweden where they won 125 medals. In August they will travel to Edmonton, Canada for the International Gay & Lesbian Aquatics Championships.

Ski Bums spent 2015 skiing and snowboarding in powder around the United States and other parts of the world. International trips in 2016 include New Zealand, Japan, Italy and British Columbia. National trips to Montana, New York, Vermont, Oregon and Montana are also being booked. This year’s D.C. day trip will be announced soon.

Chesapeake and Potomac Softball sent multiple teams to the Gay Softball World Series in Columbus, Ohio in August where the D.C. Union team took third place. They also continued to provide league play in the open division and women’s division. They hosted their annual MAGIC Tournament and traveled to New Orleans; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Providence, R.I.; and Orlando, Fla., for more tournament action.

The D.C. Strokes Rowing Club continued with multiple rowing programs and hosted the 22nd annual Stonewall Regatta bringing about 400 rowers to D.C. The Strokes raced sprints and head races throughout the year and had a great showing at the U.S. Masters Rowing Championships in August in Camden, N.J.

The Capital Tennis Association hosted Capital Classic XXIII and the event was once again live streamed on the CCE Sports Network. The group continues to host 20 leagues across four seasons and players have been traveling to tournaments around the world on the Gay & Lesbian Tennis Alliance World Tour

The Federal Triangles Soccer Club continued to host their annual tournaments, the Women’s Indoor Cup, the Rehoboth Beach Classic and the Turkey Bowl along with the Summer of Freedom soccer league. The squads also traveled to tournaments and in August they sent two teams to the 2015 IGLFA North American Championship II in Verona, Wis., and won in the championship match. This year’s United Night OUT at RFK Stadium, which is co-hosted by the Triangles, drew 500 members from the LGBT community.

Women’s full tackle football with the Washington Prodigy is a part of the Team D.C. Night OUT series. The Prodigy plays in the Independent Women’s Football League and competes against teams along the eastern seaboard.

The D.C. Sentinels continue to host the Washington D.C. Gay Basketball League along with pickup games twice a week. They also traveled to tournaments in Chicago, San Diego and Dallas.

Stonewall Sports offered league play in four different sports, Stonewall Kickball, Stonewall Bocce, Stonewall Darts and Stonewall Dodgeball. Stonewall Kickball traveled to Las Vegas for tournament action and this past July hosted the Stonewall Kickball Summer Tournament.

The Washington Wetskins water polo players hosted the Columbus Day Classic tournament and also traveled to various tournaments throughout the country. They also traveled to the EuroGames in Stockholm, Sweden where they took fifth place in the competitive division.

The D.C. Front Runners hosted the third annual Pride Run 5K drawing about 1,200 runners as part of the Capital Pride events.  They continue to offer their walk, run and racing series and several of their runners competed throughout the region in races.

The Capital Area Rainbowlers Association continues to host nine fall/winter leagues along with three summer leagues. Along with hosting their annual Capital Holiday Invitational Tournament, the bowlers traveled the region competing in tournaments.