Get sporty Sport enthusiast Paul McMullen gives us all the info on what’s been happening in LGBT sport, what’s coming up in the near future and some general news from the sporting world.
A tournament of twists, turns and thrills for the Mersey Marauders September once again saw the annual GFSN six-a-side tournament in Leicester, and this one provided uncertainty and entertainment from start to finish. The previous night saw various teams meeting up with anticipation for the tournament with Exeter Lions using this opportunity to get very drunk. The main talking point from the GFSN faithful was the blossoming romance between Village Manchester’s Pete Ransom and London Leftfooters’ James Nelson, who was actually playing for Cardiff Dragons. This coupled with Chris Crimmins’ transfer to host club Leicester also for love gave us a lot to talk about. The Sunday saw registration for all the teams and Mersey Marauders have too many players, so I was shipped off to play for Trowbridge who were desperate for a goalkeeper. The tournament got underway with Mersey and Birmingham making a good start, as well as Trowbridge and a depleted Yorkshire Terriers. A surprise this year though was the poor performance of Village Manchester who simply could not score; they soon found themselves unable to qualify with Mersey and sponsors, National Grid taking the top two places. Also the winners of the Blackpool Tournament, London Titans crashed out early on. Mersey were aiming to do better and concede less than Trowbridge as they had leant Trowbridge their keeper. This was going very well until a 3-0 defeat to National Grid severely dented their chances. Trowbridge needed a win against rivals Exeter to qualify which they did, but second place was between Cardiff and Nottingham, and with Nottingham losing to a struggling Leicester team. Cardiff had a chance to qualify if they beat Birmingham. Bournemouth managed to scrape second in their group and were to play Trowbridge and with the score at 2-1 to Cardiff they were set to play the other Nottingham team, Only for Birmingham to get two last ditch goals to break Welsh hearts.
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Mersey qualified second behind National Grid and went on to play a depleted but very strong Yorkshire in the Quarter finals, with the friendly but fierce rivalry between themselves and Trowbridge, the teams playing on adjacent pitches added an extra spice and when Mersey went through on goal it looked to be advantage Scousers but Yorkshire managed to clear. Good goalkeeping helped Trowbridge keep parity in the Bournemouth game with both matches eventually ending 0-0 and going to penalties.
I soon learned that this sport requires intense physical fitness and utmost discipline. It is also a brilliant way to occupy youGg people, especially those harnessing aggression and should be encouraged.
Unfortunately both teams lost on penalties and Yorkshire went on to the final to play Nottingham, who they also beat on penalties to go on and win the tournament. For their excellent attitude and
With so many players in various sports believed to be LGBT and so few players coming out, many people wonder why this is the case and conclude that sport is generally homophobic.
friendliness, the fair play award went to Exeter Lions.
The great outdoors
Diving into the LGBT world
Many people look to Gareth Thomas in admiration that he had the courage to come out at the end of his career. However such courage has been eclipsed by an Australian diver called Matthew Mitcham.
For those gay and bisexual lads who want to stay active, outdoor lads are coming on very strongly and allow a wide range of activities for those outdoor minded people. To join their group and go on events simply register with this link http://www.outdoorlads.com/index.php?option=com_eventli stregion&func=showlist&Itemid=307&region=5
Your first two activities are free and from then on a year’s membership is only £48, that’s less than £1 per week.
Fight your demons Taekwondo style An anonymous interview with a male LGBT martial artist who is the 2010 British TKD Taekwondo champion has proved that while sport has come a long way to challenge homophobia, the fact he wouldn’t give his name means that there is still a long way to go. In a short interview via the internet, he told me how much he loves the sport and a brief insight into TKD Taekwondo as well as telling me that he is British and Scottish champion.
Mitcham, who won gold at the last Olympics, is an excellent ambassador for the LGBT sporting community by actually coming out at the start of his career. He is currently 22 years old and just participated in the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, he has been out for two years. This begs the question how is he received in Australia and is there any homophobia towards him? Surprisingly the answer is very little in the way of homophobia, the Australians see him ultimately as one of their athletes, although his natural friendly personality wins over the general public. His sexuality is very rarely discussed because the Australian people are more concerned with his performances as they love to win at sport. Australia however has been known to be a tolerant nation in the past when Manly Sea Eagles, Rugby League star, Ian Roberts also came out during his career and the press hailed him a hero, showing the accepting attitude Australia has towards sexuality, and again Australia fly the rainbow flag and lead the world forward in LGBT sport.