The Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association (CMSA) is the largest non-profit gay sports league in the nation, with nine sports on its roster—and that number likely will grow in the coming years.
CMSA president Brian Kupersmit said long-term goals for the group include growing the membership, increasing the number of social activities offered, and increasing CMSA's charitable involvement in the community.
"CMSA is a solid organization," said Kupersmit, 37, a three-sport competitor within CMSA who was named president earlier this summer, replacing Shawn Albritton.
"We have an amazing all-volunteer staff of elected officials, directors, commissioners and countless members who give their time and energy so generously. Our sports run successfully from season to season and the product on the court or field is always extremely well put together. We have built at incredible relationship with so many wonderful sponsors who share our community with us. We've also worked very closely with the Chicago Park District and are proud of that relationship.
"As is the case in most large organizations, we have the opportunity to increase our communication with our membership and share the great activities, work, and community involvement we are doing. We plan to leverage social media, an improved website, and a streamlined registration process. We also have an opportunity to increase the social and community involvement aspects of our league and are putting plans in place to achieve this goal. The board also is working hard to drive membership, through new sports, increased branding, and communication plans to prospective members."
There are about 4,000 CMSA members, with about two-thirds of them male. Most CMSA members live on the city's North Side, "so part of our marketing efforts will stretch beyond that region," Kupersmit said.
Kupersmit said multiple sports are being considered to be added to CMSA, including racquetball, golf and ping-pong, among others.
None of the current sports offered by CMSA are in jeopardy, or even being considered, for elimination.
"We plan to grow through reaching out to new members across the Chicago area, getting our current members to play more sports, and offering new leagues," Kupersmit said. "We will use a mix of traditional media, social media, and word-of-mouth programming to bring in new members and ensure our organization remains healthy.
"[As president,] I would like to help change the image of what it takes to lead CMSA. We are at a critical point in our history, where we are not really a sports organization exclusively. We are a not-for-profit organization with legal requirements, audits, insurance, etc. Our challenge is to be responsible to the organization while also maintaining the fun, small feel that our members love."
Kupersmit, who lives in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood, is the senior manager at Mars Inc., working in the Wrigley segment (gum and candy). He has lived in Chicago for eight years and plays flag football, softball and tennis.
He has been on the CMSA board for six years and, for the past three years, has been the commissioner of the men's flag football league. He also has been the tournament director for the annual Chicago Pride Bowl for the past three years.
In addition to Kupersmit, the CMSA board includes Mark Sakalares (vice president), Jessica Andrasko (vice president), Michael O. Rice II (treasurer) and Matt Simpson (secretary); and six appointed members: Jack Nielsen, Jackie Schimt, Brian Lopez, Julie Colwell, Jason Kallen and Michael Erwin.
"I am fortunate to have an incredibly strong board behind me," Kupersmit said. "I was overwhelmed by the number of candidates who ran for two-year elected positions and the number of candidates who ran for appointed one-year positions [this summer]. This is the first time in recent history that we've really been intentional about collecting specific skills on the board and supplementing the skills of the five elected officers. Our six appointed positions are a great mix of new blood with those who have served before. We've brought in board members as communication experts, advertising and branding experts, and so much more. I've been impressed with the leadership and commitment of this board."
So where is CMSA, financially?
It's on good ground, Kupersmit said. "Thanks to an incredible history of fiscally responsive boards, our not for profit organization is well positioned to meet the organization's needs."
During elections this past summer, Kupersmit stressed the importance of improving the CMSA website, and he repeated that agenda when interviewed for this story.
"Our website is not up to the level where we need it to be," he said. "We are undertaking a major project to build a new website that will allow our members easier access to information, better integration with social media and a streamlined registration process. In our first 60 days, this board has already simplified registration by cleaning up the interface and allowing for the membership and sports transactions to be performed together. We will continue this progress."
Another area of concern this summer at the election was an apparent split along gender lines. "We've already taken positive steps to ensure that all of our leagues have elections and that each sport has the ability to make most of its decisions autonomously," Kupersmi said. "Beyond that, we believe that some planned communication, social, and community activities will continue to bring everyone together and leverage the great power of the full CMSA organization, working together towards one goal.
"Our first course of action has been to ensure that our sports have elections for [a] commissioner. An elected represented from each sport is a critical step in our decentralized business model. We've already conducted, or are conducting, elections in five sports within our first 60 days and will work with those commissioners to ensure each sport [has] clear policies and procedures for governance."
Two of the most popular CMSA leagues are the predominantly male open-division Sunday softball and Friday beach volleyball. However, both leagues are at capacity.
"Clearly, field/court capacity is one of our biggest challenges," Kupersmit said. "We are always seeking new options and venues for our sports. In the case of beach volleyball, we've done a good job working with the incredible staff at the Chicago Park District to add some courts on the beach and will continue to work closely with them."
Open-division basketball is now a CMSA sport after falling under the Athletic Alliance of Chicago (AAC) flag for years.
"The addition of basketball was a very proud moment for me personally, as I worked closely with that organization to bring them in to the CMSA family," Kupersmit said. "Basketball brought us some new members, but it offered us a cornerstone sport to help complete our portfolio. In addition, under the leadership of Mark Sakalares at the time of integration and now Andrew Burke, I've been impressed with the leadership and the creative approaches to parties and sponsorship. We are learning a lot from the basketball league that our other sports can leverage."
Kupersmit said he wanted to be CMSA president to pay back the organization that has given him so much.
"I can't imagine a time when LGBTQ individuals didn't have the community we have today. I admire the true CMSA trailblazers who have come before me and I hope my contributions will add to the CMSA legacy," he said.
