Play Ball!
Ladies, are you interested in pickleball, golf, tennis, bowling, or even softball? If so, you are in luck! The Rehoboth Beach-Lewes corridor is chock full of leagues to suit all levels of experience and tastes. Some include requirements but all concentrate on the “fun factor” and camaraderie.
CAMP Rehoboth member and self-proclaimed sports fanatic Lisa Mosely does it all! She has participated in these sports for years and says that she finds the atmosphere among local ladies’ leagues to be friendly, supportive, and fun.
Let’s start with pickleball, the fastest growing sport in the US for three years running, according to the 2023 Sports and Fitness Industry Association’s Participation Report. The Pickleheads website offers additional interesting statistics about the sport.
Locally, the First State Pickleball Club organizes tournaments, player development programs, and social events for a large swath of area residents. The club’s website lists numerous places to play, including Dave Marshall’s Tennis and Fitness Club (Plantation Road) for winter opportunities indoors. The club’s mission is to “promote the development of the sport of pickleball through participation, training, and good sportsmanship.”
Golfers have numerous options. CAMP Rehoboth’s Thursday night ladies league convenes at the nine-hole American Classic Golf Club and includes about 80 women with a wide range of skills. CAMP member/coordinator Rina Pellegrini uses a shotgun scramble format to maximize the number of players on the course.
“Many of us get together when the league is over and continue playing golf throughout the year,” says Mosely.
Milton’s Rookery, another public course, offers a couple of women’s leagues, including one that requires a handicap score from the Golf Handicap and Information Network (GHIN). Its Women’s Golf Association hosts a weekly 18-hole league intended to help ladies work on skill improvement, practice/learn the rules, and have fun, according to President Debbie Romenus.
The group supports women’s golf activities sponsored by the Women’s Peninsula Golf Association (WPGA), and Delaware Women’s Golf Association (DWGA). Ladies’ clinics start in April and continue through the beginning of September.
Tuesday is Ladies Day at Mulligan’s Point near Georgetown. The club hosts a nine-hole and an 18-hole friendly competition. No need to be a member to play in the league. One of the largest golf leagues is organized by the Indian River Senior Center.
The Senior Ladies Softball League starts in June, ends in late August, and consists of six teams of 20 women each with playoffs at the end of the season. Tuesday night games for women 45 and older are played on Holland Glade Road Little League Field and the games attract a large number of team supporters each week. For further details contact rehobothsoftballover45@gmail.com.
Pellegrini coordinates the Ladies Rainbow Bowling League that plays on Thursday nights at the Millsboro Lanes bowling alley. She started the league about 12 years ago and is an accomplished bowler in her own right. Her contact information is rpelligrini6469@gmail.com.
The league has 16 teams comprised of four women on a team. It runs from November to end of February and celebrates the season with an end of year party (recently held in March).
A group of women tennis players meet on Saturday mornings at the Cape Henlopen High School from April through November depending on the weather. Organizer Lori Dewald started the informal (and free) “league” in 2010. She has about 30 women of all ages and skills on her email list. There are 10-12 courts at the school so Dewald rotates players to make sure everyone gets a chance to play (primarily doubles matches). It’s a “non-competitive” group but Dewald pulls together the Lew-US tournament in September during the US Open in NY. For information, contact Lori at loridewald@gmail.com.
OutLoud, a national nonprofit sports organization, has a chapter in the Rehoboth Beach area. Primarily a co-ed group, OutLoud Sports brands itself as “the nation’s original Queer+ recreational sports leagues.” Founded in 2007, it claims to be all inclusive and welcoming. Chapters typically are in major cities like Los Angeles and Denver. The Rehoboth chapter offers bowling, kickball, dodgeball, softball, and pickleball.
Many local sports league women marched in the October 2022 Sea Witch® parade, under the banner of “A League of Their Own.” Several were decked out like the ladies’ softball team, the Rockford Peaches; Pellegrini and CAMP Rehoboth member Jen Leonard pulled it together.
Leonard is another avid sports enthusiast who plays in various leagues. “I like working on the skills needed to play, the friendly competition, the banter that comes with a hard-fought game (like softball) among teammates and opponents. Most importantly I love to be outside,” she says. “The parade theme was chosen to celebrate and bring awareness to the women’s leagues and all the sporting options that enhance our community,” she said.
“My vision is to have more and more of us dressed in Rockford Peaches uniforms marching together in Sea Witch® parades for years to come,” she added. ▼
Mary Jo Tarallo is a former journalist and public relations professional for various non-profits including a ski industry trade association. She won a Gold Award for a United Way TV program starring Oprah Winfrey.
Photos: Shore Sharks, 2022 Softball Senior Olympics Champions. Photo credit: Lisa Mosley
Lisa Mosley. Photo credit: Sharon Brosnahan.
Chris Durr, Alley Cats; Robin Esham, Shore Sharks; Photo credit: Sharon Brosnahan. Chi Wu, Janet Redman; Tara Leek, Lisa Mosley.
CAMP Rehoboth Ladies Golf League. Photo credit: Lisa Mosley
JR Futcher, Claire McCracken, Jen Leonard, Karen Landy, Isabel Ortiz, Clarice Maggio