The Field of Dreamers Cooperative Softball Association is a recreational cooperative softball league that seeks to prioritize queer, non-binary, radical communities.
Founding Statement
We are a self-organized, community-run, entirely volunteer and not-for-profit collective that grew out of the ten-season history of the Uncertainty recreational softball team.
Everyone agrees. It’s about to explode. From the narrow corridors of Toronto’s west end we seek an outlet for the pent-up energies of those anticipating their time at the plate. Softball may be a game full of magic, cosmic truth and the fundamental ontological riddles of our time, but organized sports are often not welcoming spaces to many in our communities. The dream of playing in a recreational league free of corporate profits, toxic masculinity, and unfettered competitiveness may soon become a reality.
The purpose and objective of the Field of Dreamers Cooperative Softball Association is to provide an inclusive space for people in Toronto to play the beautiful game of softball. We envision our league as a space where experienced players get to share their knowledge and love of the game with others, where players who are newer to the game get to hone their skills, where those who have traditionally been pushed out of organized sports can find a place in the lineup, and where those who have never played softball before are welcomed into a supportive and inclusive league.
We are a self-organized, community-run, entirely volunteer and not-for-profit collective that grew out of the ten-season history of the Uncertainty recreational softball team. We dreamed of this league after long conversations about our frustrating experiences in a number of Toronto’s mainstream rec softball leagues. Our league is organized around a collective effort to correct for the barriers that too often keep people from playing and enjoying baseball. In place of high registration fees that restrict people’s access to organized sports, our fees are based on a sliding scale, which will allow more people to play ball. In place of hyper-competitive attitudes that intimidate and exclude players, our season is about co-learning the craft of fielding a groundball, catching a pop fly, hitting a line drive, and running the bases. In place of registration forms and league rules that reinforce gender binaries by requiring players to identify as “male” or “female” and being placed into the lineup under strict gender rules that reproduce narrow understandings of who a baseball player is, our league centres the experiences of players who identify as trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming. We seek to be socially conscious on the diamond, body-affirming, and in touch with the emotional, psychological, spiritual experiences of playing ball – not just the physical!
The Field of Dreamers Cooperative Softball Association is about extending the simple joys of softball to more people. It’s about fostering a community of people who gather on summer evenings to play seven innings surrounded by people who encourage and support them from the field, the dugouts, and the sidelines. It’s about swinging for the fences and creating the base paths of the future!
Who are we?
The Field of Dreamers Cooperative Softball Association emerged out of the ten year history of the Insurgency/Uncertain softball team. We are a group of radicals, queers, migrants, and friends committed to disrupting the power structures inherent in recreational sports! Learn more about the coordinating committee.