CLEVELAND — An all-female pinball league is raising awareness about inclusion during LBGTQ History Month and throughout the year.
What You Need To Know
- Belles & Chimes CLE welcomes everyone who identifies as women and female who enjoy playing pinball
- Some members have competed at the international level
- Belles & Chimes CLE is a part of a larger network of Belles & Chimes leagues around the country
Kelly McGowan warmed up ahead of her pinball tournament at Superelectric Pinball Parlor in Cleveland.
“See I hit the skill shot . . . 6 million,” McGowan said after she scored.
She’s a member of Belles & Chimes Cleveland. It’s an all-female competitive pinball league.
McGowan said pinball is a game that is heavily dominated by men.
“It’s kind of nice to have people who are very inclusive and you know, just nice,” McGowan said.
Inclusion is what makes Belles & Chimes unique. They welcome everyone who identifes as women and female.
“Trans folks and nonbinary folks are a part of our world,” McGowan said. “There’s no reason we should be excluding them from pinball.”
As a member of the LGBTQ community herself, McGowan said the support that she received from the team was what kept her coming back to play more games with the team.
“Cleveland has some of the best pinball players in the world and everybody just wants to see everybody else do better,” McGowan said.
McGowan mentioned that the International Flipper Pinball Association recently recognized Belles & Chimes and other women’s-only tournaments.
She added that some of her teammates are even now internationally ranked.
President Megan Brown is one of them.
“Last time I checked, I was ranked 12th or 13th in the world overall, Brown said.”
Brown said she noticed participation was up.
In addition to more players, Brown said the opportunities for women to compete at all levels were increasing because of leagues like Belles & Chimes.
“It really encourages a lot of women to play the game, to learn the game and what they do with it,” Brown said. “The possibilities are really endless.”
Belles & Chimes fall season is scheduled to run through Nov. 18. They compete at 8 p.m. on Thursdays.
