Barry Griffith Photo by Can Türkyilmaz
Barry Griffith runs the city’s largest coed recreational sports league from his home office in Far North Dallas. He’s the director of operations and marketing for Dallas Sport and Social Club. He’s mostly a one-man show, which means that on any given day, he’s a receptionist, a gear guy, an event coordinator and … the list goes on. “I wear two big hats and 17,000 little hats,” he says. This year, Griffith projects the league will have about 900 teams registered, up from 500 teams last year. The club targets young professionals in Uptown and Addison areas. Most of the teams don’t practice in Far North Dallas, but Griffith is looking to change that. “Part of what I’m trying to do is bring us north,” he says. “Those young professionals are going to start moving north to settle down, and we want to keep them as members.” The challenge is finding consistent venues since the club must compete with little leagues and neighborhood groups for city-owned park space. Recently, though, Dallas Sport and Social Club became the exclusive provider of beach volleyball at Sandbar Cantina and Grill in Deep Ellum, and Griffith hopes to land more of those opportunities throughout the city. The club has been around for 20 years and offers traditional sports such as basketball, soccer and softball as well as kickball, flag football and cornhole. But the club hasn’t always been successful. In 2007, the club dwindled to just nine flag football teams and has slowly recovered. Griffith, having been laid off from his job as a video editor, came on as director in late 2010. He says that unlike other local leagues, Dallas Sport and Social is less about competition and more about making new friends. Games usually are followed by bar or restaurant outings. “We are a sport and social,” Griffith says. “We want people who want to come out and play with a group of people they like to hang out with.”
Learn more about Dallas Sport and Social Club at dallassportsleagues.com.
