When Ashton Woldt walked into a bar a few months ago, she had no idea what she was signing up for. Her coworker and fellow Belles & Chimes Eugene member, Genoa Ferguson, had invited her out to play pinball with the group.

What Woldt quickly realized was that the group was actually playing in a tournament and she had been signed up. Although she was initially nervous, Woldt recalls having a lot of fun because the league members guided her through some games.

“Everybody is so kind and welcoming. Nobody is mad that you have a question,” said Woldt. “It makes you want to come back.”

When it comes to arcade games like pinball, there’s the stereotype of a young man at the controls. But a local chapter of an international pinball league is flipping the narrative by creating a safe space for women and gender minorities.

Belles & Chimes is an international network of women and gender minority pinball leagues. The leagues started in 2013 as a safe space for women to play pinball together. Now, there are more than 100 chapters around the world, including the one in Eugene.

According to Sunni Williams, the tournament director for Belles & Chimes Eugene, the league provides an inclusive space where anyone can play.

“It’s a very male-dominated game, and so getting women and gender minorities together to play together, to learn, to grow and to feel more secure in their ability to play, I think really helps to either give you that space and that motivation to get better and play more, or to even then join those open tournaments and feel like you belong,” said Williams.

Recently, the group met to play a summer tournament at The Flying Squirrel, a bar in College Hill. This game featured a recently released machine. Some players were gathered around it, giving each other tips on how to score points. Others were playing on other machines or catching up with each other as they waited their turn.

For Ferguson, the camaraderie provided by the league helps to make the game fun and is encouraging.

“It’s always low stress and you just want to do better because it is fun,” said Ferguson. “Everyone’s excited for you.”

For Williams, this was an important thing to establish in the league. She says in a competitive scene like pinball, some biases can pop up.

“Sometimes you almost get the feeling of like, ‘Oh, she’s a girl. So this is going to be easy.’ But that’s not true, because there’s no gender in pinball,” said Williams. “You have no advantage being male or female against another player, but sometimes those emotions come out from people, and it doesn’t feel good to have somebody kind of talk down to you or to make you feel like maybe you’re not as good as you could be.”

Williams said Belles and Chimes focuses more on making people feel welcome and less on rivalry.

“With Belles & Chimes, we are playing in tournaments,” said Williams. “But we’re playing together more. If you win, I’m going to be happy for you. I’m going to applaud.”

Belles & Chimes Eugene meets twice a month in different bars around Eugene.

According to the Belles & Chimes website, the network also has a chapter in Portland and two in the Seattle area.

Sajina Shrestha is a reporter with KLCC. This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.

It is part of OPB’s broader effort to ensure that everyone in our region has access to quality journalism that informs, entertains and enriches their lives. To learn more, visit our journalism partnerships page.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/08/03/eugene-oregon-pinball-belles-chimes-bar-business/