Meet Jeanna Rayman. She loves sports. She grew up in North Huntingdon, playing everything from softball to tennis. An adorable aside: Jeanna even met her girlfriend, Lacey, playing basketball. “We were playing on opposing teams when I finally realized she was the cute girl from a Lez Liquor Hour, who I was secretly checking out for months,” Jeanna says. “That is when I decided to start letting her score on me — on the court — to make her feel better about her
basketball skills.”
For a while, Jeanna and her sister, Sheli, and her brother-in-law, Luke, drove into Pittsburgh to play flag football a couple of times a week. “Traffic could be a total nightmare, depending on what else was going on that night,” she remembers. Jeanna and her family saw an opportunity to bring adult intramural sports to Westmoreland County. Soon after that, the East Suburban Sports League (ESSL) was born.
ESSL offers dwellers of the eastern suburbs the opportunity to continue to be involved in the sports that they grew up loving and to share in healthy physical activity with friends and family in their neighborhood.
“The idea of having the ESSL is to encourage people to become active and have a good time,” Jeanna says. “Adults from all over are encouraged to put together a team and become a part of the ESSL.”
Jeanna’s also busy building teams for individuals.
“Individual sign-ups are great for people who are new to the area, looking for a way to meet others. We will put together a team for you.”
“ADULTS FROM ALL OVER ARE ENCOURAGED TO PUT TOGETHER A TEAM AND BECOME
A PART OF THE ESSL.”
Living east of Pittsburgh is not a prerequisite, just a benefit, because the games will be held in “our neck of the woods.”
For now, the games will be played at Norwin High School. “At first, we looked into renting a gym. Then, we reached out to the athletic director at the Norwin School District and developed a working relationship there,” Jeanna says. “As we grow and more people become part of
ESSL, we will also grow our home courts to incorporate more of the surrounding areas.”
The cost of registering a team is $450, and individual registration is $45. The price of registration will get you regular number of season games, at least one play-off game, official referees, and an awesome t-shirt. Anyone over the age of 18 can play. And, Jeanna says: “You don’t have to be a superstar; all ability levels are welcome.”
This winter, ESSL will offer basketball. In the spring, Jeanna and her team are looking outside traditional intramural sports to include other options like flag football, ultimate frisbee, kickball, and dogdeball. Registration is open one month before the beginning of each season, and the first nine teams to sign up, or to form out of individual sign-ups, get to play.
The ESSL just had their season opener, and the first event was a resounding success. “We have very evenly matched teams this season, which makes the games enjoyable to watch and to play,” Jeanna says. “The competitive level was high, making the games very entertaining. We’re so excited to see this project grow.”
For more information on the ESSL visit eastsuburbansportsleague.com
