Editor’s note: Tonee Muenzhuber joins San Diego Gay & Lesbian News this week as a sports contributor. She has participated in various local sports leagues in San Diego and has her finger on the pulse of the entire spectrum. Watch for her weekly updates.

Welcome to the San Diego beat on the recreational sports and activity leagues in our community. In this weekly column, I will be highlighting and keeping you informed of various leagues around the city that are available to the LGBT community in San Diego.

Fleet of foot

Are you starting to feel like a hamster stuck in its wheel while completing your workout on the treadmill? Looking for a workout that is outside, with a potential to meet or see friends?

Then Front Runners and Walkers is what you seek.

This group meets three times a week at the southeast corner of Sixth Avenue and Laurel Street in Balboa Park. On Monday and Wednesday, the group meets at 6 p.m., and on Saturday at 9 a.m. The group goes for runs of either three miles or six miles and walks of either two or three miles.

If you go and find this is the group for you, you can become a member and get a directory and newsletter; however, it is not necessary to be a member to join in the fun.

Rolling, rolling, rolling

If you prefer an activity that allows you to have an adult beverage while competing against friends, then perhaps the SD Gay Bowling league is more your style.

Don’t worry, you don’t need to have your own shoes or ball to enjoy the league. In fact, if you feel like you need to put the inflatable bumpers on the lane when you bowl, you can still join in the fun! The league, now in its 20th season, has a variety of skill levels participating in three sub-leagues and they even the playing field by utilizing a handicap system.

The various sub-leagues have started, but there are always opportunities to bowl so if you are interested in bowling, here are the details of the various schedules:

High Rollers is a league on Wednesday nights with a start time of 6:30 p.m. Each team consists of five bowlers each and are all male, all female or mixed teams.

Rainbow League bowls on Thursday evenings also at 6:30 p.m. Teams consist of five bowlers and are mixed teams, with no specific ratio needed as long as you have at least one male and one female on the team.

Easy Pickups League is a league on Sunday afternoons, starting at noon. The teams consist of four bowlers and can be all male, all female or mixed.

Visit http://www.sdgaybowling.org for additional details and use the contact information to see if additional bowlers are needed. Volunteers are also being sought to help with their upcoming 20th annual invitational bowling tournament - helping out may be another way to get your foot in the door.

Chasing the long ball

If you are seeking a way to get onto the softball diamond then the America’s Finest City Softball League (AFCSL) is the place to start. The AFCSL is near and dear to my heart, as I have been playing softball in this league for close to 10 years.

This slow-pitch, ASA-governed softball league plays on Sundays during both the Fall and Spring seasons, and currently, the Fall Ball Season is under way. No matter what your skill level, there is an opportunity for you to get involved – through friends or as a free agent - and placed on a team.

Some of the AFCSL events coming up:

The Autumn Classic softball tournament, which is October 9th and 10th. This is a very popular tournament that attracts teams from all over CA, NV, and AZ, with teams coming from as far away as Seattle and Philadelphia. It is two action-packed days of softball at 4 different fields around San Diego county. For more information about this tournament, check the website.

The Women’s ASANA World Series in Las Vegas. This week long tournament brings teams from across the country to battle it out for the title of World Series Champion. There are many other events and fundraisers that happen all year long. For more information please go to the AFCSL website.

Future columns

Each week I will introduce you to more groups and activities happening around the city. In the future I will also shine a spotlight on a competitor from one of the many different leagues in our community.

If you are interested in being the spotlight athlete, please contact me at aroundthehorninsd@gmail.com. Also, if you have a group that you would like me to write about or a fundraiser for a team that participates in one of the leagues, please let me know and I will make sure to include those items in future columns.

Tonee is a legally married sports fan who has received most of her writing experience through college papers on the way to her MBA. A 10-year transplant originally from Minnesota, she has participated in the local LGBT community's softball, bowling and dart leagues. To contact Tonee, send e-mail to aroundthehorninsd@gmail.com.