Getting to Know...Christopher Haley
Softball: The Next Generation is Christopher Haley, 29
For the past two months we have shared with you the stories of our leagues in Memphis (BCSA) and the Twin Cities (TCGSL). Next month we will continue that series. However, throughout the month of June, as we celebrate Pride Month, we’re doing something a little different. Instead of featuring a league in a specific city, this month we are going to be sharing with you the stories of some of our exciting younger players from around North America. These players, all of whom are under 30 and who have fallen in love with their softball community, have unique-yet-familiar stories to tell about how they came to queer and inclusive softball, and what it’s meant to them. We believe many of you will be able to relate to their stories and hopefully you’ll come away with hope and confidence that the future of our community is in good hands.
Chris had always been an athletic kid. He grew up playing baseball and hockey, and had plans of continuing well into adulthood, but somewhere around middle school, Chris was diagnosed with Kawasaki’s Disease, which affects the blood vessels that supply the heart. At that point, contact sports were out of the question.
But he got a new lease on life when his health improved, and Chris was medically cleared to play hockey. So he practiced and practiced until eventually he became a two-time national collegiate hockey champion.
“I don’t let being told I can’t do something get in the way of pursuing it and trying to make it happen anyway,” he said.
During those championship runs, Chris knew he was gay, and so did his family. He came out when he was 19, but it wasn’t exactly on purpose. He was out of town with family when a cousin saw some messages on his phone and from there, the truth came out.
His mom took it the hardest. “She kept asking me if I was gay and I kept lying and telling her no. So when I came out, she was upset; not because I was gay, but, according to her, because I had lied to her.”
But now, he says, it’s all good. Just how good? Keep reading…
Once hockey was over, Chris needed to find another passion, so he started playing softball in USSSA (U-Trip) leagues around the St. Louis metro area. He didn’t know gay leagues even existed until a straight family friend who had been playing in St. Louis Gay and Lesbian Summer Softball league (GLASS) for a couple of years suggested he try it out.
“I had never heard about GLASS before,” Haley said. But now, almost four years later, he’s glad he did; though he admits, he didn’t know what to expect.
“When I came out for the first week of softball,” he said, “I saw how energetic people were and how much fun it was to be in a competitive environment with all these gay people.”
Haley had officially been bitten.
“The following year I started my own team because I wanted to include my family and friends, and to help grow the league,” he said.
One team of family and friends led to more friends joining. Now, in 2025, Haley coaches and plays on a C team, and coaches a D and an E team (with help from some of the more seasoned players on both.) And it’s truly a family affair. His mother often keeps book (she especially loves going to tournaments) and both his dad and brother play on one of the teams.
As if coaching multiple teams weren’t enough, last year Haley wanted to contribute to the organization, so he joined the board as the fundraising director and is responsible for bringing new sponsors onboard, creating social events, and helping the league’s sponsors get their money’s worth.
“GLASS means a lot to me. It motivates me, knowing that I’m going to be around my community, and that I can be myself and not have to hide,” he said. “It’s a good, safe space for my community.”
In his four years, Haley has played in well over a dozen tournaments, meeting people and making friends all over the country. He’s also played in three Gay Softball World Series, finishing twice in the top 5 in C with the Missouri Mayhem and coached his own team this last year, the St. Louis Monarchs, to a respectable 6-2 record before being eliminated.
He also understands fully the role of being a coach in a gay league. “The coach title carries with it a huge responsibility,” he acknowledged. “You’re the person who is responsible for that organization. You’re the person people come to with questions. There’s an expectation for positivity, for good sportsmanship, and for keeping people held to high standards for how you behave on and off the field.”
Though he recognizes the importance of his role, he also recognizes the importance of not taking oneself too seriously. “It’s gay softball,” he said. “We’re here to have fun, to be positive and to socialize, but you can still do that and stay competitive and maintain sportsmanship.”
Like so many others in iPride, Christopher Haley has found his chosen family in the ranks of the queer softball world.
“There are people in the organization who I feel comfortable sharing everything with,” he said. “You can count on people week in and week out, to pick you up when you’re down.