This event features competition for University age athletes (born 1988-1994 and must have graduated from high school; 2012 graduates not eligible) in Men's Freestyle and Greco-Roman. In 2011, the event set records for competitors in the Men's Freestyle division. Sign up today to be a part of the action!
The event also features competition for FILA Cadet age athletes (born 1995-1997) in Men's Freestyle and Greco-Roman. The champion in each FILA Cadet weight class qualifies to represent the United States at the 2012 FILA Cadet World Championships.
Top three place winners at this event qualify for your state's Cadet national teams (above the state limit) in the style in which you qualify. This is only for athletes born in 1996 or 1997. Athletes born in 1995 do not qualify for their Cadet national team. Athletes must still adhere to all state policies and you qualify in the style in which you place. The ASICS/Vaughan Junior & Cadet National Championships will be held in Fargo, ND, from July 14-21.
A young Argentine player who looms as Puma in the making is Juan Pablo Socino. The 24 year old flyhalf / centre has been in the sights of the FIR with the Italian Rugby Union looking at him as a potential Italian international flyhalf. Such a move would follow on from Leandro Cedaro who last week confirmed he had said no to a possible place in the Pumas squad in place of an opportunity of representing Italy. Cedaro is to play for Italy A next month. In the case of Socino, the opposite has occured with the young Argentine player being named in the Los Jaguares squad for the IRB Nations Cup to be played in Romania in June.
Socino is ready to take the step up after having impressed in England´s second division, the RFU Championship for Rotherham and Nottingham. He was named at inside centre in the Dream Team of the current season as well as also being named in the Dream Team for the 2010-2011 season. Scouts have been paying attention to his progress with Rabo Direct Pro 12 side, , Treviso looking to secure his signature. Socino, however, turned down the offer to play for the Italian side as well as offers of staying in the RFU Championship and, in fact, cut short his contract with Nottingham by one season so that he could return to Argentina and focus on making his way into the senior squad.
His return to Argentina has seen him take up a contract with the UAR as one of the PladAR players. It means he will be at the full disposal of Santiago Phelan and his colleagues and has declared himself to his country. This will likely see him play for los Pampas XV in 2013. nd likel. He will play less now than he was in England and certainly less than he would in the Rabo Direct Pro 12 but his move to Argentina will see him have far greater chances of making Los Pumas and he could very well be utilized in The Rugby Championship. He would likely be used as an inside centre given the options avaliable to Phelan at flyhalf. Moreover, Felipe Contepomi will not play in The Rugby Championship which could well see Socino earn a spot depending on how he performs for Los Jaguares the IRB Nations Cup.
At last weekend's TIP Paris International Tournament there was a screening of clips from TV and movies about LGBT sport. During the discussion period I took issue with the moderator's position that in the absence of homophobia, there would be no need for LGBT sport.
I believe that there is a need for LGBT sport, independent of the very real problem of homophobia, in part because of the social role of sport. I also feel that there are modalities and values of sport found in the LGBT community that are distinct and worthwhile.
We saw an example of this at the TIP track meet. The last-place runner in the 5K track event was far behind everyone else. For the final lap, dozens of runners joined her to encourage her to the end. It's a moment that people who were there will take with them forever, and perhaps more meaningful than any medal they might have won.
-- Marc Naimark
(Thanks to Jean François Vansnick for this great photo)
Pride Games is an annual multi sports festival for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their friends. Held at various sporting sites in Manchester, it's the perfect opportunity to try a new sport, re-awaken old talents or brush up on current skills...have loads of fun and meet new people!
After Track and field on 14 June and Squash on 21 June, Pride Games is adding a new event, Ergonomic Rowing, on 14 July 2012.
The Rowing ergometer challenge (2km) is brought to you by Open Athletics.
In the spirit of indoors rowing, complete 2k on a indoor rowing ergometer...but 'al fresco' and as quick as you can! Come anytime from 3pm to 5pm to complete the challenge and record your time. Medals for the 3 fastest men and women to cover the distance.
Register online now at www.pridesports.org.uk or just turn up and pay on the day.
The RFL has launched a new game wide 'Tackle IT' Equality and Diversity programme which aims to increase awareness of issues such as racism, homophobia and other forms of discrimination and prejudice within Rugby League. The 'Tackle IT' campaign features seven promotional posters and a promotional DVD which will be made available to all professional and community clubs in the UK. The campaign sees the RFL become the first UK sports governing body to produce a resource that simultaneously tackles and celebrates all six key equality strands of; race, sexuality, gender, disability, age and religion.
The campaign is fronted by famous names from the sport of Rugby League such as former St Helens and Hull KR star Anthony Sullivan, whose father Clive became the first ever black captain of a British sporting side when he led Great Britain to World Cup glory in 1972, and Sarah Bennison, who became the first female ever to referee a game in the professional ranks in July 2011 when she took charge of Norway versus Germany. RFL Chairman Richard Lewis said: “We are committed to making Rugby League one of the most open and friendly sports in the UK and the Tackle IT campaign is the latest step aimed at ensuring we can achieve that goal.
“The RFL has worked very hard in recent years to improve our equality programmes and encourage people from all walks of life to get involved with the game and we hope that this latest initiative will continue to boost the successes we have seen over the past few seasons.
“However, the challenge now is for us not to rest on our laurels but to continue working hard at improving our pathways and equality initiatives at all levels.”
The unveiling of ‘Tackle IT’ follows a successful 12-month period for Rugby League that began with the RFL becoming the first sporting organisation ever to enter the Stonewall Top 100 Equality Employers Index in 2011 before rising 40 places to reach 53rd position in the index in January 2012.
Co-operative Championship club Sheffield Eagles broke new ground when they became the first UK sports club ever to wear a strip displaying an anti-homophobia message in March and they were joined by all 14 Super League clubs in signing up to the Government’s Charter Against Homophobia in Sport in April. Building on this recent success, the RFL is also in the process of developing an educational resource to complement the ‘Tackle IT’ campaign which will be distributed to schools throughout the UK later this year.
“We hope that Tackle IT! will be a thought provoking programme that will encourage and support all those involved in our sport to continue reaching out to diverse communities to ensure Rugby League remains a truly inclusive and welcoming family sport," said RFL Equality and Diversity Manager Sarah Williams.
“The RFL believes that sport can and should lead the way in terms of equality and diversity as sport is about fairness, identifying new talent, enabling everyone to reach their full potential and bringing people and communities together in a shared passion for their sport.
“Education is an essential part of this and is the most important tool for promoting a zero tolerance approach towards discrimination, prejudice and abuse, while also celebrating diversity in Rugby League and in the wider community.”
We are delighted to learn that Gay Games Ambassador Matthew Mitcham has been selected for the Australian team for the 2012 Olympics. Despite outstanding performance at the Olympic trials, he underperformed at the last Grand Prix event, meaning his qualification was not automatic, and depended on a decision from Diving Australia which has just been announced.
From Argentina´s third largest city, Rosario, Nicolás Vergallo is a no-nonsense scrumhalf. Standing at the short height of 1.7metres and weighing 77KG is not the ideal frame for an international rugby player but it has not stopped Vergallo´s rise to be Argentina´s leading player in his position. Now aged 28, Vergallo has been around Argentine rugby circles for quite some time and has gone on to be a professional player in France, wnning the 2011 French Championship. His style of play is very much to distribute ball to the backline and organize his forward pack and he excels at what he does. He has an accurate long pass and is also good at delivering box kicks - the essential skills of the position. While he is not known for a running game he has been seen darting into gaps and is not affraid of bigger players. This has enabled him to develop into a reliable player and one who will feature for Los Pumas in The Rugby Championship.
Vergallo for Dax
His international career has had its ups and down but in more recent times it has been of the positive form with Vergallo having a solid 2011 and performing to a high standard at Rugby World Cup 2011, where he started in all of Argentina´s matches. In total Vergallo has played 24 tests and has started in 21 as he has been Los Pumas´ prefered scrumhalf since the retired of Agustín Pichot after France 2007. Vergallo had been in the training squad for that tournament but was third choice behind Pichot and Nicolás Fernández Miranda. He nonetheless played both June tests in 2007 vs Ireland as Los Pumas collected two wins. He had made his debut two years earlier as a 22 year old in 2005 but it was 2008 that saw him get his real chance as he started all seven of Argentina´s tests and saw his life change as he signed a professional contract to play in the Top 14 for Dax. After two years with the club he upgraded to join Toulouse and is at the club on a long term contract.
Tackle on Marc Andreu (France)
Since joining Toulouse Vergallo´ international career has improved as he has returned to being Los Pumas´ leading scrumhalf after playing only one test in 2009. Vergallo went from first choice to third behind Figuerola and Alfredo Lalanne in 2009. He was given a chance in 2010 vs France, however, and put in the best performance of his international career thus far as he organized his forwards superbly and gave his flyhalf, Felipe Contepomi, quality and quick ball. This saw him go on to start in all three of Argentina´s European tests in November 2010 and he took the chance to underline himself as the man to play scrumhalf for Argentina at New Zealand 2011. Vergallo had a solid World Cup, starting in all four pool matches as well as the Quarter Final vs the All Blacks.
Vergallo for Toulouse vs Perpignan
Since New Zealand 2011, however, things have not been as positive for Vergallo. Toulouse have simply not known what to do with him due to the clubs new arrival, Australian Luke Burgess. The Wallaby has taken over as the clubs first choice number 9 with Jean-Marc Doussain also being preferred to the Puma. Since returnign to the club Vergallo has played in nine Top 14 matches with seven of the appearances being from the bench. He was avaliable for ten other rounds but was left out of the match day 23 entirely. Vergallo started 11 Top 14 matches for Toulouse last season and before that was Dax´s first choice scrumhalf for two seasons. It is not ideal for Pumas supporters and is worrying for Vergallo in particular as Agustín Figuerola of Brive received much more game time this season. Vergallo is also under pressure from both the Los Pampas XV scrumhalves, Tomás Cubelli and Martín Landajo who are both on full time UAR contracts and have been playing good rugby this year.
Vergallo, nonetheless remains Argentina´ first choice scrumhalf and his lack of game time this season at Toulouse could well work out in his favor as he will therefore have a greater chance of starting as Toulouse may well release him in time to play in all three of the June tests. While he has not been playing as often as anticipated he remains an important player for his country and should not be taken lightly.
The Federation of Gay Games supports this initiative, and hopes it will lead to the participation of the Thokozani Football Club in Gay Games 9 in Cleveland+Akron in August 2014:
Join the team “Foot For Love” by making a donation on the fundraising site Kisskissbankbank ! Help us to welcome in Paris a south-African female football team, so that they can participate to an exhibition match against discriminations on 24 June. This event will be followed by a whole week of actions against discriminations, including sport, culture, activism and festive moments.
"Foot For Love" is an initiative to promote the fight against violence and discrimination targeting lesbians, particularly through sport. To do so, we invite to Paris a delegation of the Thokozani Football Club during a week punctuated by sport, cultural and activist events. The name of this club, located in a township in Durban celebrates Thokozani Qwabe, a lesbian soccer player murdered in 2007 because of her sexual orientation. Since then, many hate crimes (murders, “corrective rapes” ...) have been committed against lesbians or transgenders, in South Africa.
The Thokozani Football Club (TFC) was created in response to these violences by Zanele Muholi , photographer and activist working for the rights of women and homosexuals s in South Africa. On their website, they describe their aims as follows: “ As an all black lesbian-women soccer team, we at Thokozani believe that through sport and soccer, we can make a difference in the lives of other young and queer women struggling against homophobia and violence. We play for peace. We want to educate each other and our families, friends and communities that we exist, that we contribute to building a physically, socially, and emotionally healthy and democratic South African society, and that we deserve a life free of discrimination and violence due to homophobia. We have the right as athletes to play and compete in a safe and supportive environment no matter what our gender, race, class, or sexual orientation.”
The Thokozani Football Club
The club is affiliated to the South African Football Association (SAFA women's section) and plays in a league official (ABSA League). It currently has twenty lesbians players, aged from 18 to 41 years. The province of Kwa-Zulu Natal (Durban) is generally characterized by high levels of poverty, a very high HIV prevalence (which does not spare lesbians) and very high exposure of women and homosexuals to violence.
Les Dégommeuses at the Paris Football Arc en ciel football tournament at the TIP Paris International Tournament.
We are very sorry to learn of the death of George Birimisa. Reprinted from Bay Area Reporter, 17 May 2012:
George Birimisa, a beloved San Francisco playwright, teacher, and firebrand, died on May 10. He was 88.
Mr. Birimisa died at California Pacific Medical Center of cumulative complications related to emphysema, said his friend Steve Susoyev.
Mr. Birimisa was the first openly gay playwright to receive a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. Friends said that the award was a mixed blessing for Mr. Birimisa, who had grown up in dire poverty and for whom the name "Rockefeller" was synonymous with the worst of capitalism.
A young Birimisa
Mr. Birimisa began writing stories at age 8, just after his father died in jail and his mother placed him in an orphanage. Insecure about his lack of education beyond the 10th grade, in writing for the stage during the 1960s, he discovered an art form in which he didn't have to worry about his grammar.
With enthusiastic reviews for his early work in the Village Voice, the New York Times and the Advocate , a world of creativity opened up to him. Tennessee Williams wrote of the wildly controversial Georgie Porgie : "Bravo! A beautiful, courageous play. I loved it."
During his early theater career, friends said that Mr. Birimisa alienated many people through backbiting behavior that, he later acknowledged, was motivated by envy.
"Other playwrights were a threat to my self-esteem," he admitted in a 2009 interview. "I couldn't see anything worthwhile in anyone else's work."
Birimisa as a Gay Games bodybuilding competition
He demonstrated introspective insight in other ways as well. At age 67, after a near-fatal encounter with a street hustler whom he had paid to rough him up, Mr. Birimisa entered 12-step recovery for sex addiction. During the next 20 years, he sponsored dozens of people who had found themselves on the same path. A former sex worker himself, he was a favorite performer in Kirk Read's Sex Worker Art Show. Abstinence from his sexually compulsive behaviors never made him shy about discussing his past in the most colorful terms possible.
Mr. Birimisa moved to San Francisco in 1980, where he facilitated an intergenerational writing workshop at the old LGBT center, a group that included an 18-year-old lesbian and two transgenders in their 70s.
His plays Pogey Bait and The Man With Straight Hair premiered at Theater Rhinoceros in San Francisco, and he starred in Looking for Mr. America, which premiered at Josie's Cabaret in San Francisco and later moved to La Mama E.T.C. in Greenwich Village.
Never content to pursue only one passion, in 1986 Mr. Birimisa founded the gay and lesbian Arcadia Bodybuilding Society. He participated in five Gay Games as a bodybuilder, and won one gold medal, two silver and one bronze.
Throughout his life, Mr. Birimisa was a tireless advocate for oppressed people. He won the Harry Hay Award in 2005 for his decades of inspiration to gay activists and writers.
He received numerous literary and theatrical awards as well, including a 2007 Lambda Literary Foundation book award for co-editing Return to the Caffe Cino, published by Moving Finger Press. In 2010 he releasedBirimisa: Portraits, Plays, Perversions – a collection of his plays, short stories, and profiles by his friends, colleagues, and rivals.
A celebration of Mr. Birimisa's life will take place in early July. Updates on preparations for the event can be found on his blog site, http://www.GayGeorge.com.
Left to right: Derek Liecty, Yasmin Portales, Doug Litwin
On 25 May 2012, FGG Honorary Life Member Derek Liecty and FGG Officer of Marketing Doug Litwin attended part of the 2012 conference of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) held in San Francisco.
An organization of more than 7,000 members, 45% of whom reside outside the United States, LASA brings together experts on Latin America from all disciplines and diverse occupational endeavors, across the globe. Their mission is to foster intellectual discussion, research, and teaching on Latin America, the Caribbean, and its people throughout the Americas, promote the interests of its diverse membership, and encourage civic engagement through network building and public debate.
Armed with FGG and Gay Games 9 materials, Derek and Doug were hoping to meet Mariela Castro, the director of the Cuban National Center for Sex Education in Havana and an activist for LGBT rights in Cuba. She also happens to be the daughter of Cuban president Raúl Castro and the niece of former president Fidel Castro. Her group campaigns for effective AIDS prevention as well as recognition and acceptance of homosexuality, bisexuality, transvestism, and transsexual human rights.
While Ms. Castro had appeared at other events in town, she was not in attendance at the 25 May reception. Seizing the moment, Derek and Doug attended a “Human Sexualities” reception for LASA members during which they met numerous interesting individuals from such places as Mexico, Dominican Republic, Cuba, and numerous US universities. Among those was Yasmin Portales from Cuba (see photo), a well-known Marxist feminist blogger. Since Yasmin knows Mariela Castro, she offered to pass along the FGG and Gay Games 9 materials to the President’s daughter, with the goal is to ensure the participation of Cuban athletes and artists in Gay Games 9 in 2014.
Sunday was the last full day at the Sports Village of the TIP Paris International Tournament. The day was focused on dancing, and opened with a screening of Australian documentary Ballroom Rules, which follows a group of same-sex dancers training for and competing at Gay Games VIII in Cologne, 2010.
Les Gais Musette continued the day with a series of open classes and dance sessions in the demonstration area.
FGG board members Marc Naimark and Sonia Abécassis had the pleasure of meeting Barbara and Adam from Eurogames 2011.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Gonzalo Quesada
When Argentina were selected as the team to face hosts Wales to open Rugby World Cup 1999 it was a decision made thinking that Wales would be able to get a good, clean win. Los Pumas, however, were out to win and came very close in going down 23-18. Argentina had defeated Australia two years earlier but the result seemed to have not been noticed by anybody as the South American side continued to be considered a Tier Two rugby nation. Wales, had also claimed a major scalp, defeating South Africa in 1999 - the first time the Welsh had ever knocked over the Springboks. That victory, however, had received plenty of press and saw Wales enter the World Cup as the clear favorites to win Pool D which featured Wales, Argentina, Japan and Samoa.
Argentina had always been a there-abouts team. Los Pumas had won big games but the matches were considered as being isolated and as such the team did not have a great reputation. In Rugby World Cup´s Los Pumas had never got it together and before 1999 had never made it to the Quarter Finals and had lost matches it should have won including games vs Fiji in 1987, England in 1995 and Italy also in 1995. For 1999, however, this would all change with a spirited campaign changing the shape of World Cup´s forever.
Argentina failed to score a try in the match but the boot of Gonzalo Quesada was deadly as he landed six goals to score 18 points. He paired up with a young Agustín Pichot to form a 9-10 combination that took it to Wales and succeeded in silencing the Millenium Stadium. Wales scored to tries with backrower Colin Charvis and centre Mark Taylor going over. Charvis´ try, however was contested by Los Pumas who believed he had been tackled into touch in an earlier phase before offloading. Replaying appeared to suggesst the try was indeed not scored. However, in 1999 the use of video replay´s was still not a part of test rugby. Had the try not been awarded then Wales would have scored seven fewer points giving Argentina victory. Despite losing, a major impression had been made and Argentina would make up for it a few weeks latter in eliminating Ireland from the World Cup after defeating both Samoa and Japan along the way.
A central question of gender and sports is facing officials as they prepare for London's Summer Olympics: In a system that segregates athletic competition by sex for reasons of fairness, where do transgender athletes fit?
Take, for example, Keelin Godsey, the first openly transgender contender for the U.S. Olympic team. Last month, Godsey qualified for the women's track and field Olympic trials in the hammer throw.
Godsey was born female, identifies as male, and competes in the female division — a situation that attracted the attention of writer Pablo Torre and Sports Illustrated. As Torre tells NPR's Michel Martin, cases such as Godsey's might present "the most thorny question" for sports organizers.
"For Keelin, it's a question of identity," Torre says. "Keelin's identity was formed as a women's sports athlete, before Keelin came out as transgender male. And the reality is, for a lot of college athletes who are transgender, they have scholarships, they have spots on their teams in elite sports, and they're physically that gender — physically female, for example, in Keelin's case. And really, that's enough for a governing body. Or, it should be enough."
Torre co-wrote a story about transgender athletes for Sports Illustrated's current issue. He's also a regular contributor to Tell Me More's Barbershop segment. And he says there are no physical or medical differences between Keelin and a biological woman — there have been no hormone treatments, for instance.
Earlier this month, for the Toronto District School Board's FUTURES Conference on Equity and Inclusive Education, FGG member organization ran a seminar entitled "Making It Better Now: Ending Homophobia and Transphobia in School Athletics and Physical Education", and produced an introductory video.
Three quarters of LGBTQ students feel unsafe in at least one place at school, with PE change rooms rated as the most unsafe. Half of straight students agree. (EGALE Canada, 2009).
OutSport Toronto, in cooperation with educators from the TDSB and the University of Waterloo, have put together a workshop that will leverage our collective insights on the importance of an inclusive physical education and athletics programme, sharing our own experiences, and providing tactics and strategies that can be deployed in schools immediately.
The benefits of physical education are undisputed. A physical education program - including intramurals and varsity athletics - builds healthy students, and builds long lasting character traits such as teamwork, dedication, perseverance, and confidence. These benefits must be afforded to all students, yet the fact is many students feel unsafe from the gymnasium, to the track, to the field, to the PE change room. The members of OutSport Toronto have experienced the homophobia and exclusion of high school athletics, the inclusiveness of LGBTQ sports associations, and the joy of being part of the team . We know how important it is to eradicate homophobia - the last bastion of acceptable discriminatory language - from our schools’ athletics and physical education programmes, and create an environment where everyone can get out and play and be safe.
Relevant research will include the 2009 EGALE study. This workshop will illustrate the negative effects of homophobia and transphobia, particularly in physical education and athletics, and provide practical ideas to help reduce them. Methods to be discussed will include (but not limited to) awareness campaigns, training for school personnel in creating safe and welcoming spaces within physical education and athletics programmes, leveraging GSAs and other clubs to sway sentiment and encourage positive attitudes toward LGBT and other diverse groups, and offering effective support for LGBT students participating in physical education and athletics. Participants will be involved in determining the most effective follow-up activities to encourage lasting positive change from this workshop.
Biography: OutSport Toronto is an incorporated not-for-profit amateur athletic association. Our mission is to support the amateur LGBT sports community through promotion of sports, facilitation of networking and education, and effectively advocating to external stakeholders. Please visit www.OutSportToronto.org for more information.
A message from Erico Santos of FGG member organization CDG Brasil, announcing that he will be honored with the Respect and Diversity prize in the 'sport' category by the organizers of the Sao Paulo gay pride march. Congratulations from the FGG!
Nossa que felicidade gente hoje recebi a notícia que serei homenageado pela APOGLBT SP que é a Associação que organiza a Parada Gay de SP. Serei homenageado no 12º Prêmio Cidadania em Respeito à Diversidade na categoria ESPORTE e fico muito feliz em saber que estou sendo reconhecido e contribuindo um pouco para levar o respeito e a diversidade aos esportistas LGBT´s Brasileiros !!! Depois posto mais detalhes da premiação, pois quero todo mundo lá neste momento especial para mim !!!
George Pau-Langevin (center), recently named junior minister for educational success, was on hand at the trophy ceremony for the tournament organized by Paris Football Club Arc en ciel as part of the TIP Paris International Tournament. The tournament took place in the 20th Arrondissement, where Mme Pau-Langevin served as MP until being named to the current cabinet.
Also seen are FSGL president Christelle Foucault (left) and PFC Arc en ciel president Cyril Belier.
We previously excerpted this article, and thank theBay Area Reporter for permission to reprint it in full:
Baseball thrives on superstitions, from never speaking about no-hitters when they are in progress to coaches skipping over the third baseline when approaching the pitching mound. From playoff beards to victory thongs, players are reluctant to change anything after a win or to continue anything after a loss. Statistical coincidence is mentally morphed into a double-play combo of cause and effect.
Thus, I note that the past three LGBT Nights at AT&T Park, the San Francisco Giants lost. In 2009, Tim "Timmmmmmay!" Lincecum, on his way to his second consecutive Cy Young Award, started well but the defense collapsed in the late innings. In 2010, Jonathan Sanchez, who struck out 200 hitters that year and pitched the victory that put the Giants into the postseason and on their way to the World Series championship, pitched eight shutout innings, but the Colorado Rockies rallied in the ninth against ace closer Brian Wilson. Last year, Lincecum got bombed like a Haight-Ashbury junkie in a five-run seventh inning by the Chicago Cubs. (Yes, the Cubs!)
Had they won all three times, we'd probably see the players this year wearing the fabulous promotional rainbow-logo hats they gave away at last year's game.
For this year's LGBT Night Out on Tuesday, May 29, the G-men are taking no chances. They put Wilson on the disabled list, ostensibly for Tommy John elbow surgery, but no doubt just as a superstitious precaution. They traded away Sanchez for Melky Cabrera, who has provided lights-out hitting in right field. And Lincecum, who has struggled unfathomably this season, is not scheduled to start in the game. If the pitchers stay in their normal scheduled rotation, we'll see last year's surprise sensation Ryan Vogelsong, who led the team starters going into this week with a 2.27 ERA and a 2-2 record.
All 1,000 special LGBT Night tickets were sold out two weeks ago according to Doug Litwin, marketing officer for the Federation of Gay Games, who said partial funds raised by the ticket sales will go toward the scholarship funds of Team SF and the FGG as well as the San Francisco Gay Softball League.
"The SFGSL was added in 2012 in honor of their 40th anniversary," Litwin told the Bay Area Reporter.
Last year's beneficiaries were the FGG, Team SF, and the Gay Straight Alliance, who equally divided $3,700, Litwin said.
Several LGBT sports organizations will have informational tables. This year, the tables will be located in the Community Clubhouse area, which is on the Promenade Level (main field level), right behind home plate.
A retrospective tribute to the 40th anniversary of SFGSL and the 30th anniversary of the Gay Games are scheduled to be shown during the sixth inning, and the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco will lead the singing of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh-inning stretch.
The Giants are fresh off the first of their two Bay Area series interleague battles with the Oakland A's, who took the finale against Lincecum in his latest tortured outing Sunday. The teams are following bizarrely parallel courses this year, and the Bay Bridge Series is always a delightful torment for bi-bay fans.
Last year the teams promised high and delivered low. Many had them picked to win their divisions; both finished abysmally out of the running. Familiar faces from the vaunted pitching staffs were traded away and have been replaced by players who, when the planets are aligned just right, deliver improved offense. Both have been hobbled by crucial injuries and both have mucked around the .500 level all season.
But hope springs eternal, and for the first time in recent memory both teams have speed on the base paths. If they can survive the injuries that have beset them thus far, we may see them challenge the Dodgers and Rangers down the stretch.
If not, bring back the victory thongs and get Madonna to pitch in next year's LGBT Night.
Watch this blog for photos and videos from the LGBT Night Game on 29 May.
Argentina is South American Champion after having defeated Chile 59-6 in Santiago on Saturday. The win was Los Pumas´ third of the tournament having already defeated both Uruguay and Brazil in the first two rounds. Chile finished third after having defeated Brazil but having lost by a single point in an epic 27-26 point loss vs Los Teros on Wednesday. In winning, Argentina did so with a team that is far from what will face Tier One opposition this year with captain Leo Senatore being the only player to have played at Rugby World Cup 2011. He led the team in all three matches, playing a whopping three tests in just six days.
The win saw Argentina scoring eight tries too zero with right winger Facundo Barrea and fullback Román Miralles both scoring two tries each while outside centre Santiago Craig, secondrower Benjamín Macome, replacement winger Manuel Montero and inside centre Matías Orlando all scored one try each. Valentín Cruz had a good day with the boot as he landed seven conversions.
Despite being an international match counting for IRB World Rankings and being considered exactly the same as a full strength game between France and England neither side could be said to be at full strength. Los Condores were close to it but was missing some players based abroad. Los Pumas, however, was a team made up entirely of Argentine based players. The South American Championship was used as a breeding ground for players with the future in mind. International caps were handed out to many from Los Pampas XV who would otherwise not play for their country. Chile:1 Luka Salamunic, 2 Sebastián Del Solar, 3 Sergio de la Fuente, 4 Nelson Calderón, 5 Salomón Diaz, 6 Rodrigo Tobar (Captain), 7 Rolando Pellerano, 8 Manuel Dagnino; 9 Alonso Oliver, 10 Benjamin Pizarro, 11 Iñaki Barturen, 12 Francisco De la Fuente, 13 Germán Herrera, 14 Francisco Neira, 15 Javier Valderrama.
Argentina:1 Roberto Tejerizo, 2 Bruno Postiglioni, 3 Gastón Cortéz, 4 Santiago Guzmán, 5 Benjamín Macome, 6 Lisandro Ahualli de Chazal, 7 Rodrigo Bruno, 8 Leonardo Senatore (Captain), 9 Martín Landajo, 10 Valentín Cruz; 11 Diego Palma, 12 Matías Orlando, 13 Santiago Craig, 14 Facundo Barrea, 15 Román Miralles.
From the Independent, coverage of the risk for fans at the coming UEFA championship to be held in Poland and the Ukraine:
Gay England football fans travelling to Ukraine for Euro 2012 have been warned to keep a low profile for their own safety. The advice came after Kiev's first ever gay pride parade was cancelled on Sunday amid fears of violence from far-right thugs.
Television pictures showed Svyatoslav Sheremet, head of the Gay Forum of Ukraine, being kicked and jumped on by a group of men after the event was stopped. Amnesty International said police in the capital advised organisers to abandon the march just 30 minutes before it was due to start after 500 ultra-right football hooligans had gathered.
Thousands of England fans will travel to the eastern European country for Euro 2012, which begins on June 8. Amnesty International Ukraine campaigner Max Tucker said: "Gay England football fans will have extremely good reason to be concerned. "Not only will they have to deal with violent football hooligans who deliberately target gay people and people of ethnic minorities, they will also face an extremely corrupt police force who have a track record of beating and mistreating people because of their sexual orientation." He added: "I would advise any gay England football supporters going to the Ukraine to go there with extreme caution and be on the lookout for both the police and hooligans and try to keep as low a profile as possible."
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) issued a travel warning which said conditions for gay people in Ukraine were deteriorating. It stated: "Although homosexuality is legal in Ukraine, public attitudes are less tolerant than in the UK and public displays of affection may attract negative attention. "There is no provision under Ukrainian legislation guaranteeing freedom from discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and there has recently been an increase in hostility towards the LGBT community."
Gay rights campaign group Stonewall called on the UK authorities to provide reassurance over fans' safety. Sam Dick, head of policy at the organisation, said: "The shocking violence against gay people in Ukraine will be of considerable further concern to the many lesbian and gay fans heading to watch Euro 2012. "We expect both the Football Association (FA) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to answer the serious questions about what they have done to make sure gay people visiting and living in the Ukraine are safe during the tournament and beyond."
Los Teros of Uruguay complered a hard fought victory over os Tupis of Brazil earlier this afternoon in Santiago del Chile. It was the third and final match of both countries in the 2012 South American Championship. Brazil went into the match as major underdogs following the teams 11-0 hammering at the hands of Argentina on Wednesday. Uruguay had lost by half as many points against the same team on Sunday and had clawed its way to a 27-26 victory over Chile on Wednesday. Uruguay´s win continues the pecking order of CONSUR rugby with Los Teros number two to Argentina ahead of Chile in third and Brazil in fourth. For Brazil the loss against Argentina will be what the country´s media take in but the real story is the teams competitiveness against both Chile and Uruguay. Three years ago both sides were defeating Brazil by over 60 points. But today´s match was a sign that the extent of Brazil´s loss vs Argentina has more to do with the schedule, of playing three tests in six days, than the teams actual ability.
Uruguay scored first with a try and looked like it would be the first of many, however it was not to be as Brazil played the best rugby of the first half and went into the interval leading the match 12-8. Uruguay came back in the second half but were made to battle it out hard by the Tupis and it took a penalty try to give Uruguay the lead. As the second half progressed Uruguay´s superior fitness was evident and it worked out to the advantage of the favorites as they closed out the game to win by 12 points.
Los Teros scored four tries to two with fullback Jerónimo Etcheverry scoring the first of the match. Backrower Juan Ormaechea scored Los Teros´ second try while the penalty try was followed by a try to Diego Magno. Etcheverry converted two of Uruguay´s tries and also kicked a penalty. Brazil´s two tries went to Daniel Danielewicz and Daniel Gregg. The French bound Moisés Duque kicked a conversion and Gregg scored a second half penalty. Gregg´s try was the highlight of the match with the Niteroi flyhalf underlining why he has been moved from wing to flyhalf for the national side.
The third and final round of the 2012 CONSUR A Championship will be played today in Santiago del Chile with the hosts taking on Los Pumas. The Argentine coach, Daniel Hourcade has again rotated his side with elven changes to the team that defeated Brazil 111-0 on Wednesday. The captaincy will remain with Leonardo Senatore who is to play his third international match in six days after facing Uruguay on Sunday. He will be joined in the backrow by Roberto Bruno who was named in the Pumas squad for the June internationals. Chile are coming off a 27-26 loss against Uruguay and need to defeat Argentina today to finish in second place. unless Brazil can help by defeating Los Teros. An Argentine win will see Los Pumas again win the South American Championship.
Argentina
1 Roberto Tejerizo, 2 Bruno Postiglioni, 3 Gastón Cortéz, 4 Santiago Guzmàn, 5 Benjamín Macome, 6 Lisandro Ahualli de Chazal, 7 Rodrigo Bruno, 8 Leonardo Senatore (Captain), 9 Martín Landajo, 10 Valentín Cruz, 11 Diego Palma, 12 Matías Orlando, 13 Santiago Craig, 14 Facundo Barrea, 15 Román Miralles
Reserves: 16 Martín Garcia Veiga, 17 Germán Aráoz, 18 César Frutero, 19 Javier Ortega Desio, 20 Tomas Cubelli, 21 Javier Rojas, 22 Manuel Montero
The Champion of English rugby will be crowned today as the home of the RFU, Twickenham stages the 2012 Aviva Premiership Final to be contested by the Harlequins and the Leicester Tigers. Should the Quins be victorious it would be the first ever championship title for the London based side. While a win for the Tigers would see England´s most successful club continue to expand on its untouchable resume in English rugby. Leicester are nine time champions of England, three more than the nearest best clubs, Bath and the London Wasps who have both been champions six times. Leicester´s last championship victory came in 2010 while the club was defeated by Saracens in the 2011 final.
Regardless of who wins, the Final will be a further illustration of the strength of Argentine rugby with Pumas players being present in both teams. The Harlequins will have a Pumas secondrower on the bench as Tomás Vallejos Cinalli looks to break into the squad for The Rugby Championship. The Leicester Tigers have two Pumas in the starting lineup with Horacio Agulla set to play his final match for the club. He will start on the right wing while Marcos Ayerza is to start at loosehead prop. Argentine-Italian tighthead prop, Martín Castrogiovanni has been named on the bench.
The Top 14 barrage will kick-off shortly with the first of two knock-out matches being taking place in France. Today´s match sees Castres play host to Montpellier in what is a rematch of last seasons barrage encounter in which Martín Bustos Moyano booted Montpellier into a first ever Top 14 Semi Final. Ther one time capped Argentine winger will start the match on the left wing, retaining the goalkicking duties and will be joined by four other Pumas with Juan Figallo starting at loosehead prop and Santiago Fernández at inside centre, just like they did 12 months ago. The trio will be joined by another Pumas forward and a back in the starting XV with Lucas González Amorosino playing fullback and Agustín Creevy playing hooker. The form of all five players has been impressive this season and all will feature for Los Pumas in The Rugby Championship. A sixth Argentine player, Maximilano Bustos is also on the Montpellier card, as a replacement. He is uncapped despite having been a part of the Argentine squad at New Zealand 2011. The opposition, Castres, do not have any Pumas but do have a South American with Uruguay´s Rodrigo Capó Ortega on the bench.
Toulon vs Racing Métro
The second barrage play-off match will be played on Saturday with Toulon playing host to Racing Métro. Both sides will have Pumas players with Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe starting at 8 for Toulon and to other Juan´s starting for the Paris based opposition. Pulling the strings at flyhalf will be Juan Martín Hernández who has been impvoing this season after a slow start and wil be joined by a player who 21 months ago was an unknown, Juan Imhoff. The young speedster will play on the left wing while former Pumas backrower, Alvaro Galindo has been named on the bench.
The UAR´s announcement of the first senior squad for 2012 took place yesterday afternoon. It was highlighted by the inclusion of the veteran pair of loosehead prop Rodrigo Roncero and flyhalf and captain Felipe Contepomi, veterans of four Rugby World Cup´s. Both players are not going to be playing for their country after 2012. Their selection, however, was more about experience than anything else as Santiago Phelan named a squad than can be described as nothing other than under strength. Phelan has rested World Cup players with Contepomi and Roncero only being joined by Julio Farías Cabello, Genaro Fessia, Agustín Gozio and Leonardo Senatore to give Los Pumas just six players from the squad that competed at Rugby World Cup 2011.
In place of the European professionals, Phelan has taken the bold step of naming 16 players from Los Pampas XV. No players from the play-offs of the Top 14 and the Aviva Premiership have been included which would appear to reflect the negotiations between the UAR and European clubs to not over play players. It also creates a problem, however, with players participating in The Rugby Championship sseemingly entering the international season without playing other tests. Martín Bustos Moyano, for instance remains a strong contender to be Argentina´s starting winger despite only having ever played one international four years ago. While he has been let out due to the Top 14 barrage, Phelan has gone for Top 14 players from Agen, Biarritz, Brive and Stade Français as well as Aviva Premiership players from Exeter, the Harlequins and Sale. The most notable inclusion being Ignacio Mieres who had a tremendous season at flyhalf for Exeter seeing the club qualify for the 2012-2013 Heineken Cup. He now looks set to form a 10-12 combination with Felipe Contepomi and is likely to also be the goalkicker. The pair are likely to be backed up by Benjamin Urdapilleta who played in the centre for the Harlequins over the past two seasons.
But, not all players from outside the leading Top 14 sides have been selected. While Contepomi is in there is no Marcelo Bosch or Martín Rodríguez Gurruchaga with the World Cup pair both being rested ahead of The Rugby Championship. Neither Biarritz not Stade Français will compete in the Top 14 play-offs which suggests firmly that the June internationals should indeed be the end of the road for Contepomi who is set to pass the torch. Of course, Phelan could very well make changes during June to field an entirely different team for the French tests. However, neither Italy nor France will be at full strength, suggesting that the squad Phelan has named is actually not as weak as it may appear to be. To the contrary, the June tests are going to be far from what they could be.
Curiously there is no place in the squad for Brive scrumhalf Agustín Figuerola, Bordeaux winger Rafael Carballo or Agen centre Miguel Avramovic. The non-selection of these players appears to suggest that their international careers are over with Phelan opting to give high-performance players a chance to shine with the impressive Tomás Cubelli likely to be the starting scrumhalf and both Gabriel Ascárate and Matías Orlando picked ahead of Avramovic. The make up of the squad also suggests that Los Pampas XV captain, Julio Farías Cabello is now considered a secondrower rather than a backrower. He should start in the number 4 shirt.
Suggested XV to face Italy: 15 Joaquín Tuculet 14 Belisario Agulla 13 Agustín Gozio 12 Felipe Contepomi 11 Manuel Montero 10 Ignacio Mieres 9 Tomás Cubelli 8 Leonardo Senatore 7 Tomás de la Vega 6 Tomás Leonardi 5 Santiago Guzmán 4 Julio Farías Cabello 3 Francisco Gómez Kodela 2 Andrés Bordoy 1 Rodrigo Roncero
Bench: 16 Bruno Postiglioni, 17 Francisco Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 18 Rodrigo Baez, 19 Genaro Fessia, 20 Martín Landajo, 21 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 22 Gabriel Ascárate
The clash vs Italy will take place in San Juan on Saturday June 09 and will be followed by two matches against France on the two subsequent Saturday´s. The first taking place in Córdoba and the second in Tucumán.
A titantic battle took place in Santiago del Chile on late Wednesday afternoon as Los Teros of Uruguay pulled off a one point win over Los Condores of Chile to move into second place of the 2012 South American Championship. Los Teros now face Brazil on Saturday while Los Condores take on Argentina meaning today´s result all but guarantees that Uruguay will finish in second place. The match was close throughout and was a dream encounter for the tournament organizers. At half time the score was 11-10 in favor of Uruguay after both sides had scored one first half try each. In the second half there was again one try per team and, as such, goalkicking proved to be decisive as Uruguay landed five penalties, one more than Chile who had converted both tries only to lose by a single point.
The match was a reminder of the need for the IRB to make significant changes to the World Cup qualification system which makes it tough for South American sides to qualify for the global tournament. Three of the four teams from the CONSUR A category (South American Championship A) will be in contention to adavance to face the loser of Canada vs the United States of America. The fourth, Argenitna, has already qualified by virtue of being one of the three best teams from Pool B of Rigby World Cup 2011. The teams will battle it out in 2013 for a change to face the second best from North America in the following round of qualification for England 2015.
Chile
1 Alejandro Rios, 2 Manuel Gurruchaga, 3 Francisco Deformes, 4 Rolando Pellerano, 5 Pablo Huete, 6 Ignacio Silva, 7 Rodrigo Tobar, 8 German Suazo, 9 Juan Pablo Perrota, 10 Francisco Gonzales, 11 Francisco Metuaze, 12 Francisco de la Fuente, 13 German Herrera, 14 Felipe Brangier, 15 Javier Valderrama
Uruguay
1 Alejo Corral, 2 Nicolas Klappenbacg, 3 Oscar Durán, 4 Santiago Vilaseca, 5 Cristofer Soares, 6 Mathias Braun, 7 Diego Magno, 8 Juan Diego Ormaechea, 9 Francisco Vecino, 10 Mathias Arocena, 11 Rodrigo Martinez, 12 Juan de Freitas, 13 Agustin Ormaechea, 14 Gastón Mieres, 15 Jeronimo Etcheverry
Argentina´s A side, known as Los Jaguares, has been confirmed for the upcoming IRB Nations Cup to be played in Bucharest, Romania between June 8 and June 17. The tournament is a strategic part of the IRB´s development of global rugby and sees Los Jaguares and Italy A compete alongside four test teams - Portugal, Russia, Uruguay and hosts Romania. Of the four Romania is officially a Second Tier rugby nation while the three others are considered to be developing and all have the potential to be included in the Second Tier. All have played in Rugby World Cup´s and two of the four are expected to qualify for Rugby World Cup 2015. The 26 man squad consists of players considered to be fringe players for Los Pumas but players who will not feature for the senior side in the June internationals. The vast majority of players are Argentine based with twelve players having played in the this seasons Vodacom Cup. Three players were playing for European clubs with the most interesting selection being that of Juan Pablo Socino who was named in the RFU Championship´s Dream Team as inside centre. Socino has returned to Argentina after requesting to be released from his contract with Nottingham in England´s second division. He had offers to play for other teams, most interestingly, Treviso in Italy. A move to Treviso was a part of the FIR looking to make use of Socino in the Italian national side for the teams troublesome position of flyhalf. Socino´s selection means he will now not ever be elligible to play for Italy.
Los Jaguares are grouped with Portugal, Romania and Russia with the teams first match being against the Portuguese on June 08. The team will be targetting winning the tournament after having lost two matches last season against Portugal and Georgia. The champions in 2011 were the South African Kings while Georgia finished second and Los Jaguares were third. The Los Jaguares team is coached by Los Pampas XV headcoach Daniel Hourcade and assisted by Emiliano Bergamaschi. Los Jaguares Squad
1-Lisandro Ahualli de Chazal (Universitario-Tucumán)
2-Felipe Aranguren (CUBA-URBA)
3-Nicolás Azorin (Liceo Naval-URBA)
4-Nicolás Basile (Aurillac, France)
5-Marcos Bollini (Club Newman-URBA)
6-Martín Chiappesoni (Atlético del Rosario-URBA)
7-Matías Cortese (Gloucester, England)
8-Jerónimo De la Fuente (Duendes RC-Rosario)
9-Ezequiel Faralle (Huirapuca-Tucumán)
10-César Fruttero (Jockey Club de Villa María-Cordobesa)
