Compete February 2015

Sports. Diversity.

Athlete of The year R. Tony Smith

Love & Marriage & Sports Palm Springs Mayor’s Race Phoenix Bowler Shines February 2015 • VOL. 9 NO. 2 • $5.95 WWW.COMPETENETWORK.COM

LGBT Sports Take Vegas

February 2015 Volume 9, Issue 2 Publishers Publisher Eric Carlyle • eric@competenetwork.com Associate Publisher Patrick Gamble • patrick@competenetwork.com COMPETE MAGAZINE Editor-in-Chief Connie Wardman • connie@competenetwork.com Community Editor Ty Nolan • ty@competenetwork.com Style Editor Alfonzo Chavez • alfonzo@competenetwork.com Travel Editor Brian Raymond • brian@competenetwork.com Art Director Jay Gelnett • jay@competenetwork.com Contributors Harry Andrew, Ian Colgate, Joseph Gaxiola, Jeff Hocker, Amy Jones, Jeff Kagan, Miriam Latto, Charles Naurath, Dr. Rob Elliott Owens and Brian Patrick Photo Editor Jacquelyn Phillips • jacquelyn@competenetwork.com Photographers Gregg Edelman, Thomas Fleisher Sales & Partnerships Tony Apodaca • tony@competenetwork.com Distributors Arizona Edition – Paul Sanchez Distributing Southern California Edition – Five Star Distributing Nevada Edition – Five Star Distributing Copyright © 2015 MEDIA OUT LOUD, LLC All Rights Reserved.

Arizona/Nevada Edition 4703 South Lakeshore Drive, Suite 3 Tempe, Arizona 85282 • 480-222-4223 Southern California Edition 7080 Hollywood Boulevard, Suite 1100 Los Angeles, California 90028 • 323-380-1068 Compete is a trademark of Media Out Loud, LLC Mission Statement Compete unites the world through sports. competenetwork.com facebook.com/competemag

16 Compete’s Athletes of the Year:

More Than Just Pretty Faces

19 R. Tony Smith

2014 Mark Bingham Athlete of the Year

20 Micah Porter

Living an Authentic Life

22 Sin City Shootout

Celebrates its Eighth

26 Big Gay Frisbee Goes Ultimate 34 M&M’s: A sweet Love Story KICK–OFF

11 Face-Off

12 Speed Read 13 Grandstanding 14 Thumbs UP+Down Departments

24 MVP

Eric Reissner: Compete’s 2014 MVP of the Year

28 Sports–Arizona

K Marie: Compete’s 2014 Inspiring Athlete of the Year

30 Sports–SOCAL

Palm Springs Mayor’s Race

32 Sports–Nevada Scale the Strat 2015

38 Travel

Sunny New Mexico

40 Fitness

Pre-Performance Routines

Overtime

42 Gym Bag 44 Events 46 Sports Yearbook Compete Online

Check out additional Compete Online stories at competenetwork.com

Cover Photo

by Merritt Photo

@competesports www.CompeteNetwork.com

| COMPETE | 5

I NTE G R AT E D

W E A LT H

M A N A G EMEN T

P RE SE NT S

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From the Skybox By eric Carlyle, Co-Founder

Business + Sports = Championship Team

S

ome people watch the Super Bowl just for the commercials—and that is OK. There has always been a close relationship between business and sports. Last month Compete was part of the Sin City Shoot Out and was very happy to produce a special edition of Compete just for the Shoot Out. The Sin City Special Edition was filled with support from both national and local businesses. Local Las Vegas businesses like the City of Las Vegas, Charlie’s Las Vegas and the Tropicana all support the Sin City Shoot Out. Even local business from other states, like Chicago’s Crew Bar + Grill support the games in Las Vegas.

It is because of the close relationship with the business community that the sports community thrives at every level—professional, college and weekend warrior.

In Phoenix Cactus Cities’ Saguaro Cup (softball) is proudly sponsored by Charlie’s Phoenix and Roscoe’s on Seventh among many other proud sponsors. Charlie’s shines as a big supporter of LGBT sports in the area because of people like general manager Michael Weidmann who is himself an avid weekend warrior.

The Phoenix Unified Gay Bowling Alliance counts Stacy’s at Melrose and Let it Roll Bowl as important partners. Stacy’s at Melrose’s owner, Stacy Louis is a very vocal and ardent supporter of Phoenix sports teams and organizations as well as the Gay Games.

Other cities from Los Angeles to the Washington, D.C. area count on large corporate partners to help fund their leagues, organizations and national tournaments. On a national level, companies like MillerCoors are among the top corporate partners supporting sports because of people like Doug Sanborn who understand the value of that partnership.

When building something substantial, it often does take a village. In this case the village is a strong alliance between business and sports. So while you are watching the Super Bowl or any other important sports competition, it is perfectly acceptable to cheer not only when your team makes a touchdown but also when Betty White eats a candy bar. And in the spirit of partnership, feel free to support those business partners by eating a candy bar yourself.

@CompeteEric

2015 Compete: Sin City Shootout Edition

Sport On,

Eric Carlyle Chief Executive Officer eric@competenetwork.com This is the last issue of Compete that Patrick Gamble will serve as Associate Publisher. We want to thank Patrick for his hard work and determination and wish him all the best in his new position. We look forward to working with him on future projects!

www.CompeteNetwork.com

| COMPETE | 7

From the Catbird Seat

by Connie Wardman, Editor-in-Chief

Stay Tuned Sports Fans

C

Get active when you get away @CompeteConnie

an you believe it? February is already here, a time when our thoughts traditionally turn to Valentine’s Day and love. We have always enjoyed including a love story in our February issue, one where athletes meet as a result of their mutual love for sports.

As the march for marriage equality has grown over the last year in particular, marriage is finally within reach for many in the LGBT community. And this year we’ve got a love story that will end in marriage for the happy couple. It is just one of several such stories we’ll be sharing with you throughout the year.

This issue also highlights Compete Magazine’s current and past Athletes of the Year and some of our 2014 award winners. We’re always happy to share information with you on our Compete Sports Diversity Award winners. For every high-profile gay athlete who comes out—a Jason Collins, Robbie Rogers or Michael Sam—there are hundreds of regular athletes who are creating waves of change in their local communities.

Our mission has always been to unite the world through sports and part of that is honoring the grassroots athletes who do their part to promote inclusion and diversity. The best part is that we then get to share their stories with you.

And while the Super Bowl is now over, we’ve taken a look the newest controversy plaguing the NFL, deflate-gate. We also have some early coverage of the recent Sin City Shootout.

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| COMPETE | 9

I’m smiling more than ever.

Tony, D.A.P. client

D.A.P. treats and supports the whole person When D.A.P. opened its dental clinic, I didn’t know it was one-of-a-kind in the county. I’ve been living with HIV for a long time, so I was just happy to have people nearby who really understood my oral care needs.

I’ve been a D.A.P. client since 1994, so I’d already had great experiences with my doctor, my case manager, and my home health team. But this dental clinic staff is remarkable — from the smiling receptionist to my gentle dentist and everyone else in between. Who knew you could actually LIKE going to the dentist?!

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Face-Off

Kickoff

The Question Which professional sport has the longest road ahead to reach LGBT equality?

Eric Carlyle

Co-Founder @CompeteEric

Ty Nolan

Community Editor @CompeteTy

NFL Lagging Behind

Millennials Versus the NFL

Professional sports have come a long way for gay athletes with brave men and women like tennis champion Martina Navratilova, PBA bowling champion Scott Norton, WNBA superstar Brittney Griner, NBA hoopster Jason Collins and NFL draftee Michael Sam leading the way as true sports pioneers.

Using these five athletes as inspiration, what first came to mind was professional football.

The National Football League (NFL) had a unique opportunity to stomp down inequality by drafting and then playing Michael Sam. While many professional sports have started to embrace equality, thanks in part to our friends at Outsports and Compete’s own team of journalists, the NFL still lags behind other professional leagues.

Take Major League Baseball (MLB), for example. Last summer the league took a big step by naming former MLB player Billy Bean as their newly-created ambassador of inclusion. I think they made a good choice. As a former player Bean knows what it is like to be a closeted professional athlete – and how freeing it is to be an out role model for other closeted players.

The NFL has had even more opportunity to develop retired players as ambassadors or role models. Former NFL player Dave Kopay was the first NFL player to come out—that was 40 years ago. The third player to come out was Esera Tuaolo in 2002 and he has worked with the NFL over the years on issues of homophobia in the league.

Both Kopay and Tuaolo are NFL legends and well respected in the LGBT community. But the NFL has never openly addressed the issue of homophobia until Wade Davis, who came out in 2012, took the helm as executive director of the You Can Play Project in 2013. The NFL joined their High Five Initiative but it is directed at LGBT youth, not players.

The NFL is at a unique place in history. The league can help lead the way by making their teams open and equal or they can continue to lock out athletes like Michael Sam. While the road to equality in the NFL may be a long one, it can certainly change in an instant if they make the right choices and take the right steps.

It is time for NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to take a look at gay players like Kopay, Tuaolo, Davis and Sam and step up efforts to make LGBT inclusion and equality the league norm.

The more I thought about this question, the more I kept coming back to the importance of the generation of millennials and its acceptance of gay and lesbian concerns, such as gender identities and expressions. Millennials (approximately those ages 18-33) account for nearly 25 percent of the voting age population, an even larger group than senior citizens.

A recent survey showed equality is one of the most highlyshared values of this younger generation. So it seems logical to think that this attitude would positively influence LGBT participation in professional sports, both as players and fans.

However, millennials are not showing an interest in all sports, particularly football. Most popular is the NBA (this age group is significantly more excited by basketball than the general population) while research shows a “meh” attitude toward football in general.

According to Mic.com, a recent study indicated that even as its bottom line continues to expand, the NFL’s brand is in crisis with four-out-of-five millennials (soon to be the most significant customer demographic) saying they were less trusting of the NFL than of the NBA, MLB, NHL or NASCAR. Among the survey’s more critical findings: 48 percent of respondents saw the NFL as a “sleazy” organization (that included 61 percent of millennials) and 54 percent of them believed the NFL is anti-gay. The NFL is getting nervous over growing negative fan reactions to its history of domestic violence, its legal efforts to sidestep responsibility over effects of continued head injuries and its drug use.

Michael Sam’s experience in the NFL has certainly done nothing to convince millennials it’s cleaned up its anti-gay “vibe.” And getting rid of two of football’s most outspoken straight allies – Chris Kluwe and Brendon Ayanbadejo – means there are very few active LGBT advocates left in the league.

A franchise like the NBA that is well with the younger generation is more likely to continue doing things to “keep them at courtside,” things that include LGBT involvement. When a franchise is doing well financially, there’s much less pressure to improve relationships with a group where over half of its membership are not fans of the sport in the first place.

I suspect the NFL will continue to do what’s been filling its corporate pockets, even if such thinking will have extremely negative future results as baby boomers die off and millennials and their children click past the NFL on-screen and on-line.

www.CompeteNetwork.com

| COMPETE | 11

Kickoff

Left Field

Speed Read

Super Bowl XLIX and Deflate-Gate By the time you read this, Super Bowl XLIX will be one for the history books. But in which chapter will it be found—the one for annual Super Bowl scores featuring information on winners and losers for the 49th game, including who gets the trip to Disney or will it be the one about Deflate-Gate, about the cheaters and liars in the NFL and what action, if any, was taken?

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen revealed that the NFL found that 11 of the New England Patriots’ 12 game footballs for the 2015 AFC Championship Game between the Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts were significantly underinflated by two pounds per square inch (psi) from the approved 12.5 to 13-5 psi. Reaction from players, coaches, the NFL and fans about it has ranged from incredulity to complacency to the conspiracybased “I told you so.”

Early in the second quarter Colts linebacker D’Qwell Jackson intercepted a pass from quarterback Tom Brady. Thinking the ball felt deflated, Jackson told the team’s equipment manager about it and it went up the chain of command to Colts GM Ryan Grigson who reported it to the league.

But according to Jay Glazer of Fox Sports, the Colts had already been tipped off by the Ravens to the Patriots playing with underinflated balls. He says the league also knew about this and had already planned to have the balls examined at halftime—Jackson’s interception just happened to come first.

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| COMPETE | February 2015

The balls were then inflated properly for the second half of the Patriots/Colts game, something Glazer says most people don’t know happened. Since the Pats won the game by 45–7, it may seem now like pointless conjecture, especially since the second half play was with reinflated game balls. But that’s not the point.

The real question for the league is the Patriots’ intention—was the ball deflation accidental or did the Pats knowingly break the rules looking for an advantage. It naturally dredges up memories of the Patriots’ 2007 Spygate scandal (broken by Glazer) where they were caught by the league videotaping the sideline signals of an opposing team.

Accusations of Pats coach Bill Belichick “bending” the rules continue, giving the team a “cheater” reputation. Glazer says others teams want the league to finally crack down on the Patriots like it does with them.

There’s even a petition going around on change.org to have Belichick suspended from this year’s Super Bowl.

If it’s found that the Patriots intentionally broke the rules to gain an advantage in a big game by deflating the game balls, it’s said by insiders that a strong response will come from the NFL. In the wake of the Spygate scandal the league fined Belichick $500,000 and took away the team’s first-round draft pick. That sounds like a strong response to me but then it hasn’t seemed to scare

anyone straight.

Famed for stonewalling the press, watching Belichick at his press conference was like watching a rerun of the old TV show, “Hogan’s Heroes,” where the non-confrontational German guard Schultz looks the other way and continually says “I know nothing.”

Belichick played Schultz perfectly—he feigned ignorance and put the monkey on Brady’s back, saying that Brady could tell people more about the balls. But in fact, Brady followed the same script as his coach, only he didn’t do it quite as easily. At one point Brady tried to deflect the importance of the issue by comparing this to ISIS terrorism, saying that no one is dying. I guess both men missed the handouts on good sportsmanship.

The cracks in the NFL’s iconic shield are becoming more evident with each new incident of domestic violence, drug use and cheating that comes to light. It seems clear that the NFL’s prime business has been making money while casting a blind eye on the shenanigans of players, coaches, staff and team owners … maybe even itself.

Truth, personal integrity and respect for the rules need to be enforced or the shield will never recover its luster. If the league doesn’t take some appropriate action on this, it might as well pack it all in because the game for the NFL will be over—permanently!

Grandstanding Letters to Compete Magazine Que Esera Esera (January 2015) As a Minnesota Vikings fan I have always loved Esera Tuaolo, even before he came out. While I never imagined he was gay during his playing days I often hoped he was.

Esera was one of the reasons I played sports throughout high school.

Since his coming out I have followed him even closer. He seems to be a genuine person and an amazing athlete that just happens to be a gay man, too. That in itself makes me love him even more.

I think Esera’s Legacy Award was well deserved and couldn’t have happened to a nicer and better athlete.

Compete Reader Survey Favorite time to work out?

Evening 35%

John Gary Los Angeles (via email) Editor’s Note: John, we love Esera, too and we agree the award was well deserved.

TALK TO US! Submissions to Compete should include the writer’s name, address and contact phone number and should be sent by email to letters@competenetwork.com. Letters may be edited by Compete and become the property of Media Out Loud, LLC.

Mid-Day 17%

Morning 48%

Kickoff

?

QUIZ

Now in its 49th year, the Super Bowl is old enough to have family members of different generations playing in the iconic tournament.

How many father and son combos have made it to the Super Bowl in its 49-year history?

A: Five: Julius & Keith Adams, Frank & Frank C. Cornish, Tony & Anthony Dorsett, Bob & Brian Griese, and Manu & Marques Tuiasosopo. Source: www.party411.com

SPORTS

Thumbs UP Thumbs Down Michael Sam and Vito Cammisano

… on their engagement. On their recent trip to Italy Sam proposed to Cammisano atop St Peter’s Bascilica in Vatican City.

In Touch Magazine ... for their Photoshopped cover showing Olympian Bruce Jenner as a woman wearing lipstick and blush.

With a cover headline of “My Life as a Woman,” the magazine superimposed a picture of Jenner’s made-up face onto a red top and scarf, an image Buzzfeed says belongs to British actress Stephanie Beacham.

Martina Navratilova and Julia Lemigova … on their recent marriage after a six-year relationship. Tennis legend Navratilova says “I want to write an article about it, how much it changes your life.”

Student-Athletes from Duke Universty … for taking a powerful stand against language that marginalizes people as part of the You Don’t Say campaign.

To see all of these important messages, go to www.buzzfeed. com/danielk74/duke-student-athletes-take-a-powerfulstance-on-ma-o7hn.

AOT YAO Compete Magazine’s Mark Bingham

of the

More Than Just Pretty Faces

W

hat do you get when you cross a huge commitment to personal achievement, participation in a sport and encouraging others to get involved in sports with a deep commitment to the LGBT community? You get Compete magazine’s annual Mark Bingham Athlete of the Year award winner.

Our Athlete of the Year award (shortened to AOTY) is Compete’s oldest, most prestigious award. And because these award winners come first from within their local LGBT communities, every September we ask our readers to nominate their choice for Compete’s annual AOTY winner. Nominations can be made by individuals, teams or leagues; individuals can even nominate themselves if they choose to do that.

In 2008 Compete magazine presented its first AOTY award. The concept for this award was to honor a deserving LGBT amateur athlete. In 2010 we held our first actual

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| COMPETE | February 2015

by Connie Wardman

award ceremony in Los Angeles. And in 2011 we held our first expanded Compete Sports Diversity Awards.

The inspiration for our first AOTY award was Mark Bingham. In 2002 San Francisco hosted the inaugural Mark Kendall Bingham Memorial Tournament, better known as the Bingham Cup, in honor of 9-11 hero Mark Bingham.

An out athlete and founding member of the San Francisco Fog rugby team, he was on board flight 93 and is reported to have stormed the cockpit, forcing the plane down and saving the lives of an untold number of people.

It is in his honor that in 2013 Compete magazine officially renamed this award the Mark Bingham Athlete of the Year Award.

Each winner is an outstanding athlete, to be sure. But they are also active leaders in the gay community – movers and shakers in their local LGBT communities as well as on the national, even the international front. Each year’s award winner joins an elite group of gay athletes who are helping to move sports diversity forward in a positive way.

OTY AOT Y Our first AOTY award went to ice hockey enthusiast Jeff Kagan back in 2008. He co-founded the New York City (NYC) Gay Hockey Association and the NYC Gay Basketball League among his many other continuing contributions to the LGBT sports community in the New York/New Jersey area.

Jeff Kagan, 2008 Photo courtesy of Jeff Kagan

Kagan was followed by softball player John Deffee in 2009, a prominent player in the world of gay softball. For his high level of play and his love of the game that extends to his mentoring younger players coming behind him, he has been inaugurated into the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance’s (NAGAAA) Hall of Fame.

In 2010 the AOTY award went to former competitive swimmer Michael Holtz who at that time was a major gifts associate for Equality California. Nominated by Olympic gold-medal winning diver Greg Louganis, Holtz continues to be active in several sports and is always working to raise money for and awareness of gay sports.

John Deffee, 2009 Photo by Don Thompson

Michael Holtz, 2010 Photo by John Skalicky

AOT YAO Cyclist David Rae was the 2011 AOTY. He has combined his love of sports and philanthropy with his career as a financial planner by forming and captaining Team Popular to ride in the annual AIDS/ Life Cycle. He raises large sums of money with this and other fund raising projects for LGBT concerns.

Jack Mackenroth was our 2012 AOTY. A competitive swimmer, he is also an HIV-positive activist who has devoted his life as fashion designer, fashion and fitness model, radio and television personality and business owner to eliminating the stigma associated with being HIV-positive.

David Rae, 2011 Photo by Christopher Stewart

Jack Mackenroth, 2012 Photo by Jeff Eason

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| COMPETE | February 2015

An educator and nationally recognized transgender Ironman triathlete, Chris Mosier was our 2013 AOTY. He uses both his education and athletic ability to help educate others, including creating www.transathlete.com, a resource not only for trans athletes but also for straight and gay athletes as well as others wondering how to address transgender issues.

Chris Mosier, 2013 Photo courtesy of Chris Mosier

OTY AOT Y Although we’ve already introduced you to R. Tony Smith, the 2014 Compete’s Mark Bingham Athlete of the Year in our December issue, we want to share with you a little more about him as well as the 2014 runnerup, Micah Porter. It is only when you see the caliber of the people who are nominated that you begin to understand the tough job our AOTY panel of judges must do each year.

Smith’s entire life is devoted to the art and business of celebration—he understands the human need to be included with others in achieving something meaningful and then be able to celebrate it. And he uses LGBT sports as the vehicle to move people and projects forward in a positive way.

Another reason he’s a passionate advocate for LGBT sports? He met his husband of 12 years while playing volleyball.

As a gay athlete Smith plays competitive sand and hard-court volleyball year round in both gay and straight leagues. In addition to playing in local and national tournaments, he has also offered his leadership and organizational support skills to help Denver host 1,200 volleyball players for the North American Gay Volleyball Championships. Another major event he has produced since its 2010 inception is Denver’s “LGBT Sportsfest,” an umbrella LGBT sporting event that includes volleyball, flag football, rugby, biking and running.

Over the years he’s served on the Colorado Governor’s Council for Physical Fitness, the Denver GLBT Commission and recently led the launch of Denver’s cultural plan, “Imagine 2020.” The 2014 year marked Smith’s 14th year working for Colorado’s signature celebration of the arts, the Cherry Creek Arts Festival, as their marketing and operations director.

But Smith says his crowning achievements in the gay sports world have been his various roles with the Federation of Gay Games (FGG) over the past few years. For Gay Games 9 held this past August in Cleveland and Akron, Ohio he was a contractor filling the position of international champions’ coordinator. He is proud of being elected earlier this year to the FGG board of directors as communications officer.

R. Tony Smith, 2014 Photo by Merritt Photo

www.CompeteNetwork.com

| COMPETE | 19

AOT Y A close runner up in this year’s AOTY judging was Micah Porter who also comes from the Denver area. Obviously, sports diversity is alive and very well in Colorado.

Porter is a high school cross-country and track & field head coach at D’Evelyn High School in the Denver area where he’s built quite a coaching reputation over the past 19 years. He says he’s honored to have coached 35 individual state champions, four team champions and four All-American athletes. Jerry McWhorter, the school’s athletic director says that Porter is “… well-respected throughout the state as a coach. He gets a lot out of his athletes.”

To honor his coaching accomplishments, he has been chosen as coach of the year for Jefferson County 16 times and for the state of Colorado twice. He’s also been named teachercoach of the year (he’s a social studies teacher) by the state’s coaching association as well as being named the most inspirational coach.

What makes his story truly remarkable is that he lived most of his life as a closeted gay man with a wife and two children – he didn’t come out to his family until 2009 and wasn’t out publically until 2013. Porter says that “My involvement in sports, as well as the conservative environments in which I lived and worked, kept me closeted for a significant portion of my life.” He says that after coming out his life changed in “ways I could never articulate. I am now living an authentic and happy life as a proudly gay man with my partner Brandan. I never knew that one could be as happy as I am.”

Porter is now a member of the LGBT sports coalition and worked with them to hold an LGBT education conference in Colorado and worked with the state’s high school sports association to develop inclusion and tolerance training. Also, through his advisory board position with the You Can Play project, he has authored three “Playbooks” that provide necessary curricula for organizations at the professional, collegiate and high school levels.

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| COMPETE | February 2015

Micah Porter, Runner-Up 2014 Photo by Jayde Silbernagel

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We Came.

We Saw. We Loved It!

By Connie Wardman

For the eighth year, the Sin City Shootout (SCS) came to Las Vegas and ruled the town’s various sports venues for the Martin Luther King weekend. In addition to all the wonderful sporting events going on throughout the city, it’s a great time to connect with friends you haven’t seen in a year or more. It’s also a great party—you know that just by the volume of the music if nothing else.

According to tournament director Eric Ryan, there were over 7,700 athletes, fans and participants who were there to play or watch the 18 different sports represented.

Three of that 7,700 number rolling into Vegas for this year’s SCS experience were Compete publisher/CEO Eric Carlyle, style editor Alfonzo Chavez and yours truly.

We were thrilled to create the program booklet for the event and like all the other groups there, we manned a table at Friday night registration. We not only ran into people we knew, we also got to meet lots of people we’d only talked to over the phone as well as making some new friends. Here are some of the comments from various sports groups. As other reports come in, we’ll share them with you on our website. Enjoy!

Dodgeball From dodgeball coordinator Jake Mason, “Sin City 2015 went AMAZING! We had 55 teams from all around the country (and the world!

We had some Canadians and Australians come out to play with us as well).” Winning teams included the following: Ladies Division winners, Lipstick Mafia; Co-Ed No Sting Division winners, 5 Card Studs; 8.5 Division winners, Clitty Clitty Bang Bang.

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| COMPETE | February 2015

Los Angeles United, Upper Division Basketball Champions

Basketball Jason Jaramillo reported that the Lambda Basketball League hosted the Sin City Shootout basketball tournament. Seven teams with players from cities such as Los Angeles, Portland, Chicago, Seattle and San Francisco competed for upper and lower division championships.

Basketball players of all skill levels enjoyed a fun weekend on and off the court. On the court, the Los Angeles United (www.instagram.com/LAUnited) won the upper division championship and Chubby, Single and Ready for a Pringle took home the lower division championship.

Interested in playing in a LGBT basketball league in Los Angeles? Please visit the Lambda Basketball League’s website (www.lambdabasketball.com), like us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/lambdabasketball.com), or follow us on Instagram (Instagram.com/lambdabasketball).

Bodybuilding Sport coordinator Richard Cavaler shared that Valerie Worrell won first place at Sin City. She also was a gold medal winner at Gay Games 9 in Cleveland as well as Gay Games 8 in Cologne, Germany in 2010. She operates Val’s Fitness in Portland, Oregon.

The Gay Games and the Sin City Shootout Sports Festival offer competitions in bodybuilding and physique for GLBT men and women ages 18 and above. We also offer tested and non-tested categories at the Gay Games. Contact the Bodybuilding Guild, PO Box 2844, Southfield, MI 48037, USA. E-mail: cvlr@comcast.net.

Valerie Worrell

Bridge

Bridge Flight C Team Winners

Steve Kaessner, coordinator for bridge reports that “The Sin City Shootout 2015 Bridge Tournament was highly successful.

Attendance mushroomed to 52 participants and a table count of 60 over the seven sessions we held. This was a three-fold increase over the 2014 event. We had robust representation from all corners of the US. Besides the stiff bridge competition, our activities included two informative lectures, a wildly fun cocktail party and a group dinner. The tournament matured into a more professional event with pre-dealt bridge hands and immediate on-line posting of each game result.

Our top winners Overall (and for Flight A) were Jean Boettcher and Steven Gaynor of Columbia Heights, Minn. with 12.70 masterpoints. Bryan Morgan of Dallas, Tex. was our second place winner with 7.50 masterpoints. The top players in both the B and C Flights were Gerry Connor and Charles Lee of Sun City West, Ariz. with 7.12 masterpoints.

Kickball Hot off the email from Will Hackner: “What a year for kickball at Sin City ShootOut 2015! The kickball tournament tripled in size, with 2 Divisions, 24 teams, 300 players from CA, TN, DC, NY, AZ and PA competing in 45 games of kickball. There were epic moments, hilarious costumes, and incredible team work and solidarity from new competitors and returning champions. In the end, We Woke Up Like This (Los Angeles) defeated rival Pitches Ain’t Shit (Los Angeles) in a 1-0 victory to take the Division A trophy and the Golden Kickball Cup! Meanwhile, the spirited fighters Real Pitches of VGL (Los Angeles) defeated the Green Avengers (Los Angeles) to take the Division B trophy, and winning their first title, ever! DC’s You Can’t Kick With Us took 3rd in Division A and LA’s Kick Tease took 3rd in Division B. What was once a “school yard game” has quickly become a challenging, unique and accessible game to players of all levels. Kickball will only get larger in 2016 and we can’t wait to see all our friends come back for year three. Will you be there to join us?”

Green Avengers (Los Angeles)

www.CompeteNetwork.com

| COMPETE | 23

DISLIKES: False hustle, excuses, fake people, grudges, giving up, tomatoes, onions, green peppers, and I HATE losing.

LIKES: Sports, ESPN, competing, my teammates, my family, the Indianapolis Colts, carne asada burritos, pizza, and I love winning

INTERESTS: I am a diehard sports fan.

I am involved in the gay flag football, basketball, and softball leagues. I have always had a strong competitive edge to me and I use these wonderful organizations to feed my competitive hunger. In addition, I have made some of my best friends in my life through these leagues, especially in the flag football league. An organization that has such a wonderfully strong national presence, I have been able to make great friends with guys and girls across the whole country. When I am not playing sports, I am most likely hanging out with my teammates and friends, who have become my second family.

FAVORITE ATHLETE: Peyton Manning

SPORT: Flag Football

Current Residence: San Diego, CA

HOMETOWN: Indianapolis, IN

AGE: 35

TEAM COMPETE MV P

Eric Reissner

2014 MVP of the Year Award Winner

Photos by Scott Donald Photography To be included in our MVP section, e-mail MVP@competenetwork.com

A close second is the camaraderie experienced by you and your teammates. There are very few things that feel as amazing as being a part of a team. My teammates mean everything to me, on and off the field… and I think it is pretty safe to say that they think the same about me.

BEST PHYSICAL FEATURE: I have been told that my best physical features are my eyes and eye lashes.

WHY HE LOVES HIS SPORTS: As far as I am concerned, there is nothing better than “going to war” with a group of guys who are fighting for the same outcome. A group of guys with the common goal of winning and who will do anything for each other to reach that goal. The amazing feeling of winning a championship after leaving everything out on the field for each other, is unmatched by any other feeling.

An Ultimate Experience

By Charles Naurath

91.5 Inchers vs Discmatizer, Photo by Joel Hoskins

N

owhere in athletics is the term “ultimate” more applicable than in frisbee.

Now in its third year at the Sin City Shootout, there were over eighty competitors in eight teams vying for the championship. Players from locations as diverse and far-flung as California, Minnesota and Oregon created teams with names like the Airbenders and the Discmatizers.

“BGF (Big Gay Frisbee) has formed and strengthened a community of ultimate athletes.

All of the teams become stronger every single year,” said Joey Pierre, team captain of the Shady Ladies. Everyone had clearly brought his or her A-game.

After a morning round-robin to figure out seed ranking, the afternoon saw the teams head into the brackets. Each one knew it was going to be competitive.

The Shady Ladies worked hard to maintain their zone defenses, allowing them to move their way up to battle it out against the Disc in a Box. Adam Bink, captain of Disc in a Box said that the zone defense that the Shady Ladies threw was a new concept for them to learn and it added an additional hurdle for them to overcome.

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| COMPETE | February 2015

With the team that had won all their games battling against the team that had only lost once, the game was fierce.

Ending on the buzzer with a score of 4-3, the Shady Ladies advanced to the finals where they fought their rivals, the Discmatizers, the only team they had actually lost against. It was a classic underdog tale of fighting to the finals to square off against your former rival.

The finals were shaping up to be a rough battle. On Field 1 were the Discmatizers against Shady Ladies fighting for first and second place; Field 2 hosted the Discs in a Box and Floppy Discs going for third and fourth place; and lastly Field 3 had Yellow Fever squaring against the 91.5 Inchers for fifth and sixth place. Each team wanted to secure their positions over the other. As each team became more fatigued with the stresses of the day, the athletes fought through injuries to secure their wins.

In the end, the Shady Ladies overcame their previous loss to win 1st place. Disc in a Box recovered from their previous loss to secure 3rd place. The 91.5 inchers used their girth to their advantage to win over Yellow Fever.

91.5 Inchers, Photo by Joel Hoskins

Team Disc in a Box, Woody Hartman Photo by Joel Hoskins

Shady Ladies vs Discmatizers, Photo by Travis Richey

Shady Ladies vs Discmatizers, Photo by Joel Hoskins

As the dirt settled and all games had finished, the final rankings became clear.

Rounding out the top three were the Shady Ladies followed by Discmatizers, then Disc in a Box. Floppy Discs were in fourth then the 91.5 inchers were in fifth and Yellow Fever in sixth place. The Airbenders flew into seventh place and the Raging Cocks were at eighth place.

Once the main tournament ended, the real fun began. After the players had recovered from the parties the previous night and the injuries they may have sustained during the tournament, a simple pajama pickup was organized. With many of the players returning, multiple games were played, a few of the competitions were walking only as that was all the athletes could do.

After reviewing the weekend, there were many more highlights than could be mentioned. However, the high team spirit and amazing sportsperson-like conduct left an impression on everyone. Marko Bajzer, captain of the 91.5 Inchers, stated that “the tournament itself was the perfect balance of intensity and fun, and we all certainly worked up a sweat throughout the day.” There was a palpable sense of pride displayed by the players regardless of their place in the tournament; they knew they were a part of something special.

There was a feeling that Ultimate Frisbee had finally entered into the mainstream of LGBT sports. “Five years ago we were twelve gay guys playing pick-up Frisbee in L.A.; now we’ve got players all over the country,” said BGF founder, Seth Harrington. “Today there are LGBT Ultimate groups in Chicago, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco. Ultimate has arrived.”

www.CompeteNetwork.com

| COMPETE | 27

Sports Arizona

Meet K Marie

Compete’s 2014 Inspiring Athlete of the Year

By Connie Wardman Compete’s Inspiring Athlete of the Year for 2014 is K Marie. Like many Compete sports lovers, she is an openly gay, multi-sport athlete—she bowls, kayaks, boogie boards, hikes and rock climbs. What makes her so inspiring? Although she’s blind, she still lives life on her own terms.

In spite of all her challenges, K as she prefers to be called exhibits a joie de vivre that is absolutely contagious. Wearing her standard uniform of shorts and the tie-dye shirts she makes herself, she says her daily routine at home includes walking into a wall, getting lost in her garage and trying to pick sunshine up off the floor. Recognizing that her daily reality isn’t like everyone else’s, she’s truly thankful that she can continue to do all she does.

Coming from a small town in rural Virginia, K was diagnosed as near-sighted at age three but never got the proper treatment. As a result, her vision continued to diminish through her junior and senior high school years, causing some teachers to label her as a “slow” student. Although she now has only one percent of her vision left, she has never let that stop her from doing something she wants to do.

Always a bright and creative child, her family never supported her interests in writing, art and the theatre. In a bittersweet moment, her mother once shared with her that because she felt K’s life was already so difficult, she didn’t want to encourage her daughter in areas she thought would only add more difficulty to her life.

With a life-long dream of working for Disney as a set designer, K started college as a technical theatre major but one of her professors counseled her to choose a different career. There was no question she had the talent but in a career that required quick product turnaround, he felt her vision impairment wouldn’t enable her to support herself adequately.

Taking his advice, she transferred to the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia where she graduated with a degree in psychology. In addition to required courses, she took art classes as well as courses in kayaking and rock climbing. Prior to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, many professors simply didn’t know what to do with her. And while three of them told her they didn’t want her in their classes, she didn’t always take “no” for an answer.

K continued to persevere, telling me that over the years she has learned to choose her battles carefully.

Selling her contemporary ceramic studio at age 48 to move to Phoenix for better job opportunities for her partner

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| COMPETE | February 2015

Photo by Thomas Fleisher, BarePhoo(t) Fo(t)o Studio of 14 years, her partner walked out on Christmas morning, leaving K to forge a new life for herself in a new city. Part of her transformation included getting back into bowling, something she had quit in her 20s due to her vision.

Hearing that there was a gay bowling league, she joined the “Family Affair” team, part of the Phoenix Unified Gay Bowling Alliance (PUGBA). She is a regular local league bowler and also attends some of the regional tournaments.

Additionally, K indulges her love of water by continuing to kayak by herself in Phoenix’s Salt River and boogie board in the ocean. She has also hiked the Grand Canyon without a guide but said she would never attempt that again on her own—it takes her too long to get down and back in a day.

Incredibly, her life has now come full circle. K’s first love as a child was writing. With a bedroom awash in pieces of paper, at age 14 her mother finally gave her a bound blank notebook. Although she could still see, the first poem K wrote in it was about being blind. When her mother read it she was profoundly upset and in tears.

It proved to be a traumatic event for K, too. Realizing for the first time how her words had the power to so completely confound her mother, she vowed never to write again. Since her move to Phoenix, however, she has begun to write once again. Finishing two books of adult fiction already under the pen name of K, she has also written some children’s books.

If you ever are ever lucky enough to spot a woman at a bowling alley in shorts wearing either a tie-dye or Mickey Mouse t-shirt and having fun, spend some time with her. We promise—you’ll be as inspired as we are!

Note: K’s books, “Miserable Convenience” and “Sinister Minister” are available on Amazon in the Kindle and Nook store.

Phoenix Regional Invitational Tournament March 12-15, 2015 prit.net

Sports SoCal

City of Palm Springs Holds 4th Annual Mayor’s Race & Wellness Festival

By Jeff Hocker This rapidly growing race and festival was held January 17 as part of the Clinton Foundation’s Clinton Health Matters Initiative and funded in part by the Desert Healthcare Foundation. This year’s event, which swelled to 900 runners, 2,500 participants and over 80 health, wellness and sustainability booths with interactive displays, is quickly becoming one of the largest of its kind in Southern California. The event known as the Mayor’s Race & Wellness Festival is part of the City of Palm Springs’ commitment to its tagline, a Healthy Planet Healthy You. National fitness experts gave fitness demonstrations in a variety of genres: Sarah Dussault, YouTube fitness guru and author of “Sarah Fit: Get Skinny Again! The Right Exercises To Get Back Your Dream Body and The Secrets To Living A Fit Life” which was featured on The Today Show; Craig Ramsay, co-host on Bravo’s “Thintervention” and author of two successful Anatomy Series books, “Anatomy of Muscle Building” and “Anatomy of Stretching,” listed as one of People Magazine’s top fitness experts along with Scott Cole, former National Aerobic Champion who is star of the iconic “Abs of Steel“ videos and a lecturer/ motivator in over 30 countries.

Cole is the creator and star of America’s top-selling “Discover Tai Chi” DVD series and the awardwinning “Get Fit America for Kids,” winner of NAPPA’s Best Children’s Fitness DVD. As an added bonus to

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| COMPETE | February 2015

this year’s festivities, boy-band 4Count was added to the line-up, brought together by music mogul and host of “America’s Got Talent,” Nick Cannon.

The race course begins in Wellness Park located in the heart of Palm Springs and progresses through all of the most scenic areas of uptown and downtown Palm Springs. In addition to spectacular mountain views is the breathtaking Tahquitz Canyon as part of the 10-mile and 5K runs, and the 1K Tot Trot Fun Run. For information on how you can get involved in next year’s 5th Annual Mayor’s Race & Wellness Festival, visit HealthyPlanetHealthyYouPS.com.

Mayor’s Race 4 Count. Photo by David A. Lee

The City of Palm Springs office of sustainability, managed by Michele Mician is committed to making Palm Springs Your Sustainable City by contributing to a clean and healthy environment, community engagement and a thriving economy. The City of Palm Springs office of sustainability invites you to visit our website www.YourSustainableCity.com to help shape the future of your community.

Mayor’s Race Starting Line. Photo by David A. Lee

Sports Nevada

Scale the Strat 2015

By Harry Andrew For Nevada residents or anyone who happens to be in the Las Vegas area on Sunday, March 1, you may want to challenge yourself at the 2015 version of Scale the Strat, the annual fundraiser of the Nevada chapter of the American Lung Association that’s held in association with Vegas landmark, the Stratosphere Casino, Hotel & Tower.

For the seventh year this extreme stair climb will benefit the American Lung Association in Nevada (ALAN).

Extreme stair climb? Well, only if you consider 108 floors and 1,455 steps up the iconic Stratosphere Tower—the tallest building west of the Mississippi River—a true challenge. Participants are placed in groups in a starting gate queue and released in 30-second intervals.

Open to climbers of all abilities, the event is also being held in conjunction with the third annual USA Stair Climbing Championship, which will draw elite stair climbers from all around the globe, allowing amateur climbers to test themselves against some of the top athletes in the sport.

But the real goal of this challenge is to raise money for ALAN’s mission of preventing lung diseases and promoting lung health. Scale the Strat is the Nevada version of the American Lung Association’s unique Fight for Air Climbs. These take place across the country in prominent skyscrapers, stadiums or arenas and involve walking, running or racing up hundreds of steps. Bringing a variety of people together to work toward a common goal, these “vertical road races” enable individuals and groups to use the event

as a fitness target, a race or simply a fun way to meet new friends at a group activity.

Allison Newlon Moser, executive director of ALAN, said “Make no mistake, walking or running all the flights inside this iconic tower is a challenge.

But we climb for all those who struggle to breathe every day.” She continued to say how exciting it’s been to “see Scale the Strat grow and become a signature event in Las Vegas and in the world of elite stair climbing.”

Starting in 2008 with only 110 people, last year’s race attracted almost 600 participants to climb the inside stairs of the Stratosphere Tower and raised $202,960 in one day for ALAN. From the start, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield has been the event’s presenting sponsor.

The registration fee is $60. In addition to the registration fee, each climber is asked to make a minimum fundraising pledge of $150. The good news is that online support and personal fundraising coaching is available once you register.

“This event is one of the rare occasions when we open the stairwells of our iconic Stratosphere Tower to the public,” said Paul Hobson, general manager of the Stratosphere Casino, Hotel & Tower. “Our team is committed to providing each athlete and their friends and families to the best experience possible.”

To register or for more information, go to: www.lung.org/pledge-events/nv/las-vegas-climb-fy15/

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| COMPETE | February 2015

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for Michael and Matthew

By Jeff Kagan

Matthew Andersen (left) and Michael Leavey (right), Photo by Jeff Kagan Editor’s Note: According to the lyrics of an old song, “Love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage.” Until the recent push for marriage equality, however, that’s only been true for heterosexuals. For gay couples in a committed relationship, the best they could hope for was a recognized domestic partnership, something that often had tragic consequences when illness or death became part of the picture.

Now for the first time in our collective history we have well over half of our states (36 as of this writing) legally approv-

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| COMPETE | February 2015

ing same-sex marriage. Gay couples finally have the right to experience the joy of celebrating a legal wedding with the one they love, just like their straight counterparts.

In our February issue we always like to share a love story about athletes who meet because of a shared love of sports. But this is the first year we’re telling the story of a couple who fell in love and are now getting married. Please join us in wishing them the very best on their life’s journey together. We will be sharing other sports-related love stories throughout the coming year.

A

few months ago on Christmas morning, Michael Leavey had a lump in his throat and a band of butterflies in his belly. This wasn’t the usual Christmas morning of opening presents. There were two very special gifts sitting under the tree, both for his boyfriend Matthew Andersen.

Matthew had no idea that this would be THE Christmas that would be talked about for years to come. You see months earlier, as the two had a casual discussion about marriage, Matthew made it very clear that if they were to be married, Michael would have to be the one to propose. Michael recalls, “There wasn’t any doubt in my mind or my heart that I wanted Matt to be my husband. The question became more about the right time to propose.”

The first gift was a heart-shaped box filled with custom-made M&M’s. The candies were inscribed with different phrases: “Matty + Mikey,” “Love You” and “Marry Me Matty.” Michael asked Matthew to get the box and join him on the couch. As Michael unwrapped it, he began to say the words he’d been rehearsing for weeks. But he was overcome with emotion – trembling, he managed to say, “My life is so much richer with you in it. Will you marry me, Matty?” Now they were both in tears, and Matthew quickly cried out, “Yes!!!”

Matthew wiped away his tears and then unwrapped his second gift. It was a Marisa Perry box containing two 14-karat white gold wedding bands.

Michael placed a ring on Matthew’s right hand, and then one on his own, symbolizing their eternal love, fidelity and commitment. They had decided to wear the engagement rings on their right hands. But for their wedding, they

will buy new rings which will be worn on the more traditional left hand.

The story of Michael and Matthew didn’t start on this chilly Christmas morning, though. It goes back a few years to a warm June afternoon in a really chilly place – a hockey rink. Both of them were at Chelsea Piers in New York City participating in the Chelsea Challenge, an annual international LGBT ice hockey tournament hosted by the New York City Gay Hockey Association.

Michael (a goaltender) noticed Matthew (a forward) on the other

side of the rink lobby. Asking his good friend John Mancuso, “Who is that cute blonde guy,” John told Michael what he knew about Matthew and later introduced the two. They only spoke briefly that weekend and by Sunday they had become Facebook friends.

But both of them were rather shy so neither took steps to reach out after the tournament.

About three months later in early September, Matthew emailed to ask how Michael’s summer had gone.

Thinking there wasn’t any interest on Matthew’s part, Michael was surprised to hear from him. They exchanged a few pleasantries but then the communications came to a stop once again.

Apparently it would take an event of

Biblical proportions to finally get these two guys together.

As if on cue, Hurricane Sandy hit the New York City area in late October 2012.

At the time of the storm Michael was living in Jersey City in a ground-floor apartment. When the Hudson River crested, it brought the flood waters into his home. Luckily, Michael had friends in the building so he and his golden retriever Hayden temporarily moved up to the 14th floor while they worked at bringing their lives back to normal.

Michael says, “I continued to use Facebook to provide updates over the next several days. Matt may have been one of the first people who reached out to see if there was anything that he could do to help us.

We were chatting later in the week and one evening, as I was eating dinner by candlelight, alone in the dark while exchanging messages with Matt, he suggested that we find a time to have a candlelight dinner … together.” This was the first time Michael got a sense that Matthew was interested in him.

They now chatted online daily but it would take another few weeks before PATH (train) service was restored between New Jersey and New York. But as we all know, some things are just worth waiting for. They met up for drinks right after Thanksgiving 2012 and they have been together ever since. A few weeks later, at the NYC Gay Hockey Association Holiday Party, they shared the news with friends and teammates.

Thanks to their shared passion for hockey, the chill of the rink helped ignite a real-life love story. Michael and Matthew will be moving to Atlanta, Georgia in April and wedding bells should be ringing for them in 2016. The two have also started on a new journey toward parenthood together. Matthew says, “We look forward to sharing our passion for sports with our kids.”

The Chelsea Challenge 2015 will take place in New York City on May 23-25, 2015.

For more information about the Chelsea Challenge and the New York City Gay Hockey Association, please go to www.nycgha.org.

www.CompeteNetwork.com

| COMPETE | 35

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The sun shines in Santa Fe

TRAVEL

All-Star

by Brian Raymond, Out Destinations

Basking in the Sun in New Mexico

Travel Services: • Custom vacations • Team & group • Fundraising cruises • Adventure tours • Gay cruises & more www.OutDestinations.com/compete 866- 217-2341

With 300-plus days of sun a year, New Mexico offers a bright alternative to the drab grey winter skies covering most of the U.S. this time of the year. And it offers a mul- Brian Raymond titude of activities you can enjoy outside.

One of the most widely known events is the world’s premier International Balloon Festival held in Albuquerque from October 3 – 11. During the “Mass Ascension” event you can watch hundreds of brightly colored hot air balloons lift off and fill the sky. Albuquerque also has the state’s most active gay scene which is located in the Nob Hill area.

There you’ll find a vibrant nightlife at the gay clubs and bars.

If you are looking for a good work out, try climbing the stone and wood stairs up 140 feet to explore the ancient Ancestral Pueblo – small carved mountain rooms (caveats) in the Bandaelier National Monument just 30 miles outside of Los Alamos.

Another way to soak up some of those golden rays is golfing.

New Mexico has been rated best for public-access golf courses in the U.S. Most are very affordable, plus you can choose to play up in the mountains, down in the desert or in a parkland setting.

Some of the best courses can be found along the Santa Fe Trail.

After a day of golfing, spend time in Santa Fe. Known as a romantic and gay friendly community, it is second only to San Francisco in the percentage of same-sex households. It is also known for its strong arts community and trendy restaurants offering exquisite New Mexico cuisine made with fiery locally grown red and green chilies – blue-corn tortillas, sopapillas, chile rellenos, carne adovada or posole – you won’t find better anywhere.

Afterwards, stroll through the Guadalupe District to visit the hip art shops or go to Canyon Road for the more upscale and elegant galleries. The Georgia O’Keeffe museum is located just off the Plaza downtown. Nighttime in Santa Fe is low key and serene, and typically spent at a restaurant or bar enjoying a quiet evening with friends or your partner.

After a few days in Santa Fe take the five-hour drive to explore Carlsbad Caverns where I guarantee you’ll be amazed.

Whether it is the 4,000-foot long, 625-foot wide and 255-foot high ”Big Room,” the dense collection of “soda straws” in the “Guadalupe Room” or the “Hall of the White Giant” featuring a huge white stalagmite, Carlsbad Caverns is awe-inspiring.

You’ll get lots of exercise and memories you’ll never forget.

So if the weather’s got you down, head to sunny New Mexico.

To plan your own or your group’s travel, you can contact Brian Raymond at brian@OutDestinations.com or 866-217-2341.

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Pre-Performance Routines

By Dr. Rob Elliott Owens, C.S.C.S. As part of always bringing your A+ game, many professional athletes engage in routines to enhance their performances during training and in competition. Some routines blend mental and physical skills. For example, professional golfer Tiger Woods relies on a complex pre-shot routine that involves visualizing the shot, taking a few practice swings, identifying a target, stepping up to the ball, and taking the shot. Other routines are more ritualistic. Retired major league soccer star Landon Donovan’s unique penalty kick ritual of squatting in front of the ball and kissing the fingers of both hands before striking the ball is a prime example. Both of these scenarios represent the power of routines in sport.

Pre-performance routines are the most commonly studied routines in sport psychology. A pre-performance involves a series of uninterrupted actions executed prior to the actual performance. Bouncing the ball a set number of times before a serve in tennis or a free throw in basketball is an example of a common preperformance routine. An effective pre-performance routine is designed to help the athlete attain optimal physical and emotional states while performing under pressure. The routine enhances the athlete’s concentration by assisting the athlete with stopping negative thoughts and weeding out distracting information within the sporting environment (e.g. stadium noise). Pre-performance routines also promote automaticity, the ability of the performer to efficiently execute skilled movement patterns without conscious thinking.

Typically, sport psychologists and performance coaches coach athletes how to develop pre-performance routines using Singer’s (2002) five-step strategy of readying, imaging, focusing, executing and evaluating. Readying is

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the first step and consists of effectively positioning the body for the task and achieving a confident mental state through strategies like positive self-talk.

Imaging, the second step, involves visualizing and developing a somatic awareness of the task at hand. In other words, the athlete mentally pictures the movement pattern from start to finish. Focusing is the third step. Here, the athlete attends to relevant information in the sporting environment and ignores unimportant external cues like an opponent’s attempt to distract the athlete or internal factors like the athlete’s heart rate. The athlete performs the sequence of actions in the fourth step and evaluates the performance in the fifth and final step.

While most pre-performance routines occur in sport, they can also be useful in fitness contexts. Imagine a cardio boxing class where the participants engage in punching drills with mitts. As participants shift from threeand four-punch combinations to longer combinations comprised of 15–20 punches, coaching a five-step process is an effective means for fitness athletes to achieve expertise with the new combination and competently incorporate the combo with previously learned shorter combinations. A routine might involve athletes readying themselves by assuming an orthodox or southpaw stance, mentally practicing the new combination, focusing on appropriate cues from the trainer in anticipation of the combination about to be called, executing the longer combination, and then reflecting on what went well and what needs to be improved. The trainer can move participants through each of the five stages by calling out cue words like these: ready, envision, focus, achieve, assess. Personally, I have routines valuable for learning the Olympic-style weightlifting techniques used in CrossFit.

In all, the goal of pre-performance routine is to create an ideal preperformance state that promotes expert performance at all levels of sport. It does not matter if the athlete is a recreational weekend warrior, a master’s athlete competing in an international competition or an elite athlete preparing for the Olympic Games.

Dr. Rob Elliott Owens is a performance coach whose research focuses on working with athletes from diverse cultural backgrounds. He can be reached at reo0721@hotmail.com Reference: Singer, R. N. (2002). Preperformance state, routines, and automaticity: What does it take to realize expertise in self-paced events? Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 24, 359 – 375.

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Events Gay SPorts Events Around the Country

Bowling Gasparilla Annual Games Mixed Event Tampa Feb. 6 San Francisco Golden Gate Invitational Classic San Francisco Feb. 13 Sweetheart Invitational Wallingford, Conn.

Feb. 13 Texas Roll-off Tournament Ft. Worth Feb. 13 Bluegrass Classic Louisville, Ky. Feb. 20

Rodeo Arizona Gay Rodeo Phoenix Feb. 13–15

Softball Gasparilla Softball Classic Tampa Feb. 13

Tennis 2015 Clay Court Classic Ft. Lauderdale Feb. 13–16

Volleyball Hello Sunny Volleyball Classic Ft. Lauderdale Feb. 14-15 NorCal Volleyball Classic San Jose Feb. 14-15 Team Saint Louis Invitational St. Louis Feb. 12-15 Volley Del Sol Phoenix Feb. 12-15

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Michael Sam Honored at HRC’s National Time to THRIVE Conference Michael Sam is being honored at the second annual Time to THRIVE conference being held February 13-15 in Portland, Oregon. The event, presented by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation in partnership with the National Education Association and the American Counseling Association, is intended to promote safety, inclusion and well-being for LGBTQ youth everywhere.

“I know first-hand what it’s like to live and come out in spaces where being LGBTQ isn’t accepted, much less celebrated,” Sam said.

“So I understand the challenges that many of today’s LGBTQ youth are facing - from bullying to family rejection, even homelessness. These are heartbreaking problems that no child, no young person should have to face alone, and that people like teachers, counselors and social workers are uniquely positioned to help overcome.”

The conference is a “one-stop-shop” opportunity for professionals who serve the LGBTQ youth population to build awareness and cultural competency as well as learning about current and emerging best practices. It also enables attendees to gather resources from leading experts and national organizations in the field.

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Sports Yearbook This month in Sports History: February

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Amy Van Dyken swims woman’s world record 50 m butterfly (26.73) - 1995

Seahawks beat Broncos in Superbowl 43-8; their 1st major championship in 30 yrs. - 2014

Jockey Billy Shoemaker (58), retires after 40,350 horse race - 1990

U.S. Male Figure Skating championship won by Scott Hamilton - 1983

Author Tom Clancy says he signed agreement to buy Vikings for $200 mil +, NFL franchise record - 1998

Superbowl XLV attracts record high TV audience; Packers defeat Steelers 31 - 25 - 2011

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1st female ice hockey game in Olympic history in Nagano; Finland beats Sweden 6-0 - 1998

Phx Suns Kevin Johnson ends NBA free throw streak of 57 games - 1989

2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Turin, Italy - 2006

Diana Crump becomes 1st U.S. woman jockey to ride against men; at Hialelah - 1969

The IOC announces that wrestling has been dropped from 2020 Summer Olympics - 2013

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Leon Spinks beats Muhammad Ali in 15 for heavyweight boxing title - 1978

1st NBA player to score 30,000 points; Wilt Chamberlain in 940 games - 1972

Danica Patrick 1st woman at Daytona 500 & NASCAR Sprint Cup Series to win pole position - 2013

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Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili dies in fatal crash during training run for 2010 Vancouver Olympics - 2010

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1st black umpire in organized baseball certified (Emmett Ashford) - 1952

Beth Daniel wins LPGA Bent Tree Ladies Golf Classic - 1982

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Tiger Woods, 16, becomes youngest PGA golfer in 35 years - 1992

Pat Verbeek becomes 1st New Jersey Devil to score 4 goals in an NHL game - 1988

Steve Fossett completes 1st air balloon trip over Pacific Ocean (9600 km) - 1995

29 Hank Aaron becomes 1st baseball player to sign for $200,000 a year - 1972

Source: www.brainyhistory.com

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Dale Earnhardt, Jr. wins his second Daytona 500 race, 10 years after his first win - 2014

Los Angeles Laker Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scores his 36,000th NBA point - 1987

1st brother combo to win Gold & Silver in same Olympic event; Phil & Steve Mahre in Slalom - 1984

25 Supreme Court decides 6-3, baseball is only antitrust-exempt pro sport - 1957

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