Thursday, October 1, 2026
As the sun sets over North Woodmere Park in North Woodmere, you might see a group playing softball on the dirt fields. That would be Lights Out Softball, a newly formed league that’s looking to create a community of players.
The gatherings began as pickup games in 2024, on Friday afternoons and Sunday mornings. Their organizer, David Kaye, 36, a director of regulatory compliance at Dialyze Direct, who played third base in intramural leagues in Plainview in the early 2000s, said he was looking to rekindle his interest after moving to North Woodmere in 2020.
Since 2024, Kaye said, his WhatsApp softball groups have ballooned to more than 350 people, with pickup games often filling 10-player rosters in as little as three minutes.
“We have guys from high school to their mid-40s, from the Five Towns and the Rockaways” he said. “I haven’t done any advertising. People hear about the games and come.”
Now in its inaugural season, Lights Out Softball features a seven-game schedule followed by playoffs. The teams play on Thursday nights, and, Kaye said, the league has attracted competitive players and their families, helping create the kind of atmosphere he hopes will define the organization.
“Softball is the foundation to unite everyone,” Kaye said. “We want to win on the field, but also build genuine friendships off the field.”
Joining Kaye in running the league is Akiva Hoffman, of South Valley Stream, who discovered the pickup games last year. Hoffman, 33, who grew up playing baseball, said he approached Kaye about turning the informal games into a league that would offer more competitive play.
“I said, ‘Dave, we should try to do an under-the-lights type of vibe,” Hoffman recalled. “Guys really wanted a nice, competitive matchup, and the only way to really do that is create a league.”
As participation has grown, Hoffman said, so have the friendships. After practices across the street at Valley Stream South High School’s baseball field, players have gathered at his home to share meals.
Hoffman, who owns Zohar Judaica, an online Judaica shop, recently purchased 32-ounce squeeze bottles sporting the new Lights Out logo and his company’s brand for league members.
“Most leagues hand you a T-shirt, you come play and then you leave,” Hoffman said. “Dave and I are determined. We want to be more than that.”
While the Five Towns is home to other softball leagues, Lights Out has attracted experienced players like Cedarhurst resident Kuti Doberg, who has competed in softball leagues in North Woodmere Park for 15 years.
Doberg, 44, said he joined the WhatsApp groups last year because he enjoys the social side of sports as much as the competition. A versatile player who can handle nearly every position, he said softball also helps him stay active.
On game nights, Doberg brings his 10-year-old son, Yakir, who plays with other children — and takes batting practice before and after the games. Kaye said that his son, Yitzy, has become a regular at the fields as well, often grabbing a bat between innings and making friends with the players.
“They’re building more than just the game,” Doberg said of Kaye and Hoffman. “It’s built around sports in a way that gets you to know other people that you may not have met through your daily activities.”
Those connections, Kaye said, don’t end with the final out. Players text him about meeting at batting cages or throwing a ball around in their neighborhood, and he increasingly runs into league members around town. “I can be walking down Central Avenue or in the supermarket with my wife and someone says hi,” he said. “At first I don’t remember who they are, but I’m like, ah, they’re a softball buddy.’ That’s what we’re trying to build.”
The league charges $49 per player per season, which Kaye said helps cover the cost of permits to use the park fields, and the umpires. Even as Lights Out grows, he said, he wants to keep it affordable while expanding opportunities for members to connect, including an end-of-summer barbecue.
“It’s really about creating something authentic,” Kaye said. “The softball brings everyone together, but the relationships are what we hope last.”
Interested in joining Lights Out Softball? Contact Kaye at lightsoutsoftball5t@gmail.com
