Our History

This is the story of the birth of the Denver Summit after a brand-new resident of Denver began organizing pickup games for gay men in 2007.

2007

  • A WAY TO PLAY. Upon moving to Denver in late 2006, a late-30s gay guy (Shane Kinkennon) sought to build a flag-football team to represent Denver at Gay Bowl. For his six years before moving to the mountain west, Shane played weekly pickup games with gay men and their straight allies in his previous city of Washington, DC.  Flag football had become the foundation of his social life and the source of his closest friendships. 

  • SHAMELESS RECRUITING. Shane knew no one in Denver. So on gay dating apps, he messaged guys whose profile said they were into sports, asking them to play flag football at Cheesman Park at 11am on Sundays. And to bring a friend. 

  • LONELY MOMENTS. Week after week, Shane sat alone in the park at the designated time, bag of balls, flags and cones he had purchased laid out beside him, hoping at least one of the strangers he had harangued might show.

  • THEN FINALLY GUYS. Finally guys began to arrive. Two guys at first, then four, then six, then eight. (Summit and DGLFFL living legend Joe Cooper was among those earliest arrivers.)

2008

  • GAMES AND MORE GAMES. More and more guys arrived to play until, in time, there were enough people to run two pickup games side-by-side each week. Engagement and enthusiasm were high and growing.

  • MIGHT THERE BE MORE? By spring 2008, a group of regular players, energized by the experience, developed the idea to organize a gay league, one similar to what existed at the time in a handful of other major U.S. cities. That was the early seeds of the DGLFFL.

  • THINKING BIG. At the same time, the group was dreaming of Denver representation at Gay Bowl. Shane himself had competed in the five previous Gay Bowls and been a starter on two Gay Bowl championship teams, so there was experience present. The group determined that 2008 would be the year.

  • WHAT’S IN A NAME. The name “Summit” emerged to both reflect the group’s aspiration and to honor Denver’s mountain setting.

  • FIRST GAY BOWL. The first-ever Denver Summit team competed in Gay Bowl VIII in Salt Lake City. That team consisted of Kelly Alsobrooke, Chris Cormier, Matt Formanack, Shane Kinkennon, Tom Klausner, Patrick McIntyre, Dennis Sanchez, Dustin Stapleton, Andy Tobias, and Justin Lee Wade.  

  • ROUGH FIRST OUTING. It was a rough first experience for Summit on the national stage. At the time, Gay Bowl consisted of only one men’s division. Team positioning in the main draw was determined not only by pool-play W-L results but also point differential, incentivizing top teams to beat up on lesser teams so to increase their chances of a high seed. The first Summit team felt the brunt, yet the passion was ignited.

2009 - 2011

  • ROUGH FEW YEARS OF SUMMIT GROWTH. Summit experienced similar results in 2009 in Washington, DC, 2010 in Phoenix, and 2011 in Houston. There were wins, but they were hard-earned and few / far between. 

  • A WOMAN QB! By 2011 in Houston, there was more than one Gay Bowl division for the first time, the first year Summit fielded two teams. One of those quarterbacked by a woman (Salina Sychla), a Gay Bowl first.

2012 - Today

  • BREAKOUT!  In 2012, under the leadership of Joe Cooper, Denver Summit hit its stride. Summit won the A Division championship at Chicago Pride Bowl as a surprise underdog, beating some of the nation’s top teams at the time. The defense of that team was helmed by Nick Berry, who was named the tournament’s defensive MVP, and the offense by Jon Bryson.

  • ARRIVED ON GAYBOWL STAGE. Summit Blue (called “Summit 1”) at the time entered Gay Bowl XII in Denver with momentum. The team played its way out of the B division and into A, consistent with how Gay Bowl was then run, then lost a nail-biter quarterfinal game to a team that would make it to the finals. The team, also led by Cooper, was helmed by Nick Berry on defense and Jason Buniger on offense.

  • SINCE THEN, A JUGGERNAUT. Since 2012, Denver Summit has grown into a thriving program. In 2023, Summit sent a shocking five open division teams to Gay Bowl XXIII in Seattle, a sign of just how far the program has come, in most recent years under the leadership of Drew Roy and the expanded board of director roles.

  • TOTAL CHAMPIONSHIPS. As of the beginning of 2024, Summit has won three total men’s Gay Bowl Championships (three B division and one C division), three total Chicago Pride Bowl Championships (one A division and two B division) through itself and its occasional affiliates, one Sin City Classic Championship (A Division) and four Sunshine Cup Championships (A, Lower A, Upper B, and Lower B).

  • HALL OF FAME. Summit has produced four inductees into the NGFFL Hall of Fame, including Nick Berry, Joe Cooper, Namon Huddleston, and Shane Kinkennon. Those are four of Denver’s seven total Denver-sourced inductees.

A Division Record

  • Gay Bowl VIII - Salt Lake City 0-4

  • Pride Bowl II 0-4

    Gay Bowl IX - DC 0-5

  • Pride Bowl III ?

    Gay Bowl X - Phoenix ?

  • Pride Bowl IV ?

    Gay Bowl XI - Houston ?

  • Pride Bowl V 5-0 Champions

    Gay Bowl XII - Denver 5-1 15th Place

  • Pride Bowl VI 4-2 3rd Place

    Gay Bowl XIII - Phoenix 5-2 3rd Place

  • Surf and Turf - San Diego Loss in Semifinals (Summit Black)

    Gay Bowl XIV - Philly Eliminated in 1st Round Playoff Game to DC Admirals

  • Pride Bowl VIII ??

    Gay Bowl XV - San Diego ?? (Summit Black)

  • Pride Bowl IX ??

    Gay Bowl XVI - DC Lost to DC Generals in quarterfinal

  • Pride Bowl X Finalist, lost to NY Warriors

    Gay Bowl XVII - Boston Lost to NY Empire, eventual champion

  • Sin City Classic Finalist Lost to San Diego

    Pride Bowl XI ??

    Gay Bowl XVIII - Denver Lost in Quarterfinal to San Diego Torres

  • Pride Bowl XII Semifinalist (Canceled due to weather/hurricane)

  • Gay Bowl XXI - Arizona 1-4

  • Sunshine Cup 2022 2-4 Lower A Finalist (Summit Gold/Blue)

    Gay Bowl XXII - Hawaii 3-3 A Finalist

  • Sunshine Cup 2023 Lower A Division Champions

    Gay Bowl XXIII - Seattle 4-1 (Blue) Semi-Finalist

  • Sin City Classic- 5-0 (Summit) A Division Champions

    Sunshine Cup- 4-1 (Blue) A Division Champions

    Gay Bowl Austin- 5-0 (Blue) A Division Champions

B Division Record

  • Pride Bowl V ??

    Gay Bowl XII - Denver ??

  • Pride Bowl VI ??

    Gay Bowl XIII - Phoenix ??

  • Bowl XIV - Philly B Division Semi-finalist (Summit Orange)

  • Gay Bowl XV - San Diego B Division Champions (Summit Orange)

  • Gay Bowl XVI - DC 4-2 B Division Finalist (Summit Orange)

  • Pride Bowl X- 6-0 B Division Champions (Summit Gold)

    Gay Bowl XVII - Boston 6-1 B Division Semi Finalist (Summit Gold)

  • Pride Bowl XI B Division Finalist (Summit Gold)

    Gay Bowl XVIII - Denver B Division Finalist (Summit Gold)

    Gay Bowl XVIII - Denver B Division Quarter Finalist (Summit Red)

  • Gay Bowl XIX - New York 2-2 (Summit Gold)

    Gay Bowl XIX - New York 4-2 B Division Semi-Finalist (Summit Red)

  • Pride Bowl XIII B Division Semi-finalist (Canceled due to weather/hurricane)

    Gay Bowl XXI - Arizona 6-1 B Division Semi-Finalist (Summit Red)

  • Sunshine Cup 2022 6-0 Upper B Division Champions

    Pride Bowl XIV 2-2 B Division Quarter-finalist

    Gay Bowl XXII - Hawaii 7-0 B Division Champions

  • Sunshine Cup 2023 4-1 Upper B Division Semi-finalist

    Pride Bowl XV Lost in Quarterfinals (Summit)

    Gay Bowl XXIII - Seattle 4-3 B Division Champions (Summit Red)

    Gay Bowl XXIII - Seattle 2-2 Played up into B division (Summit Gold)

  • Sunshine Cup- 4-2 (Red) Lower B Division Champions

    Gay Bowl Austin- 4-3 (Red) B Division Champions

    (Gold)- 2-3 - lost in quarterfinal game to Summit Red

C

Division Record

  • Gay Bowl XV - San Diego 1-4 (Summit Blue)

  • Gay Bowl XVI - DC ??

  • Pride Bowl X- ??

    Gay Bowl XVII - Boston- ??

  • Pride Bowl XI B Division Finalist (Summit Gold)

    Gay Bowl XVIII - Denver C Division Champions (Summit Green)

    Gay Bowl XVIII - Denver C Division Quarter Finalist (Summit White)

  • Pride Bowl XIII ??

    Gay Bowl XXI - Arizona 5-1 C Division Finalist (Summit Gold)

  • Pride Bowl XIV ??

    Gay Bowl XXII - Hawaii 1-4 (Summit Gold)

  • Gay Bowl XXIII - Seattle ?? (Summit White)

  • Sunshine Cup- 2-2 (Gold)

    Pride Bowl-

    C Division Champions - 5-1 (Summit Pride)

    1-4 (Summit Radiance)

D

Division Record

  • Gay Bowl XXI - Arizona (Summit Pride)

  • Pride Bowl XIV ??

    Gay Bowl XXII - Hawaii D Division Finalist (Summit White)

  • Gay Bowl XXIII - Seattle ?? (Summit Green)

  • Gay Bowl Austin-

    5-1 (White)- D Division Champions

    4-2 (Black)- D Division Runner Ups

    1-4 (Green)