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10 questions for Rennae Stubbs

Tennis legend reflects on record-busting season

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From left, Bobby Reynolds, Rennae Stubbs, Owner Mark Ein, Coach Murphy Jensen, Arina Rodionova and Leander Paes. (Photo courtesy the Kastles)

Last month the Washington Kastles won the World Team Tennis (WTT) championships and capped off a perfect 16-0 season which included 14 wins in the regular season. This was the first time since the league began in 1974 that a team has completed an undefeated season and gone on to win the championships.

The bulk of the workload rested on the shoulders of Arina Rodionova, Leander Paes, Bobby Reynolds and Rennae Stubbs with an assist by Venus and Serena Williams. With the new Kastles Stadium at The Wharf and multiple sellout home matches, the season was truly magical.

After the dust settled, Coach Murphy Jensen was named WTT 2011 Coach of the Year, Leander Paes was named WTT 2011 Male MVP and Arina Rodionova was named WTT 2011 Female Rookie of the Year.

The final home match of the season was also Night Out with the Kastles for the LGBT community. Kastles stalwart and LGBT sports hero Rennae Stubbs, a lesbian, sat down to reflect on the winning season.

BLADE: The media has assigned nicknames for the four mainstays of the team. Rodionova is Hot Rod. Paes is Scissorhands. Reynolds is The Closer. I have heard them refer to you as Stubbsy. Do you have a favorite nickname for yourself?

STUBBS: I had not heard of Leander being called Scissorhands, I think Magician is probably more appropriate and as for me, Stubbsy has been my nickname for as long as I can remember, so I will stick with it.

BLADE: Coach Murphy Jensen seems to embody the perfect mix of leadership, motivation and fun. What’s it like to play tennis for him?

STUBBS: Murphy was and is the perfect combination of all those things. With an experienced team like Leander, myself and Bobby, there isn’t too much tennis instruction or experience he needs to push on us, more just keeping us positive in tough moments and keeping us laughing. With Arina it was a matter of him keeping her positive and feeling good.

BLADE: I love the camaraderie of the players on the court in World Team Tennis. It’s like your entourage is out there with you.  That must be a great change of pace from the WTA tour. Do you love it?

STUBBS: I do love it. I have always loved being on a team and team tennis with it’s balance and equality make it the perfect team environment. Our team camaraderie was the reason behind our success this year. We always supported each other. There were nights when one of us might have had a rough set and we would always say, ‘Hey I got your back tonight,’ and we always did. We cared for one another and our team owner Mark Ein kept stressing to us, keep supporting each other. We even started to get together in huddles in the middle of matches and end of matches and motivate each other. Saying things like, ‘Everyone keep taking care of your own business and no matter what we support each other to the end.’ It was such a nice feeling in the end to continually support and motivate one another and get the job done. I was so proud of us.

BLADE: Do you get to enjoy the sights and sounds of D.C. when the Kastles are in town, or is it all business?

STUBBS: Unfortunately there isn’t a lot of down time, but one Sunday I had off and I did as much site seeing as possible. I absolutely love the city, its architecture and parks are so beautiful. I tell all my friends, it’s a must on the list of cities to see, truly a favorite.

BLADE: You and Leander Paes are two of the greatest doubles players of all time. Did you play together before partnering for the Kastles?

STUBBS: Only once. It was back a few years ago at Wimbledon.   We lost in the first round, but it was a close match and it was a really tough draw. Most other times we have had regular partners and plus he wins without me.

BLADE: You have competed for Australia in four consecutive Olympics. Are you gunning for a berth in 2012 in London?

STUBBS: I will never say never, but that is a long way away and I just can’t see myself going for another full year of the tour. It would be amazing to play an Olympics at Wimbledon, I won’t lie, but like I said, that’s seems like an eternity to me right now.

BLADE: You picked up the microphone and gave a heartfelt thanks to the fans at the Kastles season finale. Did the new stadium and the sellout crowds motivate you or add to the pressure?

STUBBS: Oh it motivated me for sure and I know the rest of the team felt the same way. The work that Mark Ein and his staff did to get that great new stadium up and running every night was amazing. Also the fans were the reason we won most of those matches this year, especially the tough ones. We have the best fans in the league and to not thank them after the season we had, would not have felt right, especially after going 14-0. I wanted to let everyone know how much we appreciated their support all season and I promised them we would bring the title back to D.C.

BLADE: Was there a doubles team this year in WTT that rattled your cage?

STUBBS: Not really. I am want to beat everyone I play and contribute as much as possible to the end score for our team. There might be a team or two that motivates a little more, but overall, a win’s a win. The most nervous I was all season was when the first lady Michelle Obama and her kids came. I was really motivated that night to play well, I won’t lie. And they were so into it, it was great and they could not have been nicer. Only in D.C.

Rennae Stubbs (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

BLADE: At the regular season finale at Kastles Stadium against the Philadelphia Freedoms, the heat index was 115 degrees. What do you think it smelled like inside of Topspin and Slice’s mascot uniforms?

STUBBS: Oh gross! We all kept saying, ‘Oh Topspin and Slice must being dying, we better keep an eye on them, in case they start fainting.’ Troopers.

BLADE: Will you be back in 2012?

STUBBS: I would love to come back, but that’s again an eternity for me and I can’t say if I will be playing. I think it might be the perfect way to exit into WTT retirement, but we will see. But I can guarantee you, no matter in what capacity, I will be back to D.C. and the Kastles whenever I can. Maybe we can get a visit to the White House. Thank for all the community support. I love you guys.

 

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Caitlyn Jenner backs NY county transgender athletes ban

‘Let’s stop it now while we can’

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Caitlyn Jenner endorses Nassau County's transgender athlete ban during a press conference. (YouTube screenshot)

Caitlyn Jenner flew from Malibu to New York this week to join her fellow Republicans in their nationwide quest to keep transgender girls and women from competing in sports with other women. 

“Let’s stop it now while we can,” said the Olympic gold medalist, at a news conference carried live by Fox News Channel. 

Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman organized the event so that Jenner could speak in support of his February executive order banning trans athletes at more than 100 county-owned facilities. 

“Trans women are competing against women, taking valuable opportunities for the long-protected class under Title IX and causing physical harm,” said Jenner without providing supportive evidence of her claim. Jenner said the ban would defeat “the woke agenda.” 

Her comments drew praise from former NCAA swimmer and paid shill Riley Gaines, who represents the Independent Women’s Forum and has also worked with the failed presidential campaign of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida on his anti-trans athlete platform.

“If the left wants to fight this battle on this hill, it’s a losing battle,” said Jenner. “We will win the battle.” She claimed she spoke on behalf of women and girls, contradicting her past statements in support of trans girls competing according to their gender identity and despite the fact she herself still competes in women’s sports.

Shortly after the ban was announced last month, New York State Attorney General Letitia James and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, both Democrats, denounced it and accused Blakeman of “bullying trans kids.” 

James called the order “transphobic and deeply dangerous,” and argued that it violates the state’s anti-discrimination laws. The state attorney general challenged it in court March 1 with a “cease and desist letter,” demanding that Blakeman rescind the order, saying it subjects women’s and girls’ sports teams to “invasive questioning.”

As the Los Angeles Blade reported, Blakeman’s legal team countered with its own lawsuit on March 5, claiming her cease and desist letter violates the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause.

“Not only was the executive order legal, but we had an obligation to defend it,” Blakeman said Monday. 

The order has also been challenged by the New York Civil Liberties Union, which filed suit last week on behalf of a women’s roller derby league based in Nassau County that welcomes trans women and would be barred from using the county’s facilities by Blakeman’s executive order.

Just days before the Long Island news conference, Jenner joined Olympian Sharron Davies, who also campaigns against trans inclusion in sports, for an conversation with a British newspaper, the Telegraph, which has been outspoken against trans inclusion. 

They recalled that in their day, tests to determine sex were mandatory in order to compete, and Jenner said she has been “pushing” for sex tests to return to sports, decades after sports organizations around the world abandoned the practice because they were unreliable. “If they continue down this road, it will be pretty much the end of women’s sport as we know it.”

“I can still hit a golf ball 280 yards,” Jenner continued, not mentioning she plays from the ladies’ tee. She did however opine about not being “a real woman,” acknowledging that many trans women disagree with her view. 

“They keep saying, ‘Oh, I’m a real woman, I’m a real woman,’ and I’m going, ‘No, you’re not,’” said Jenner. “I will use your preferred pronouns, I will treat you as a female, you can run and dress and do whatever you want, I have nothing against that, it’s fine, but biologically you’re still male.”

She added: “​Let me explain — I am biologically male, OK? I’m XY. There’s nothing I can do to change that. If you believe in gender dysphoria, and I think most people do realize it’s not a disease, it’s a mental condition, just like some people are left-handed and some people are right-handed, it’s kind of the way you’re born and I’ve dealt with it my entire life.“

“I consider myself a trans person, I am still genetically male, I changed all of my ID right down to my birth certificate so technically yes, I am female, but on the other hand I know I’m not.”

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Former UMD basketball player Abby Meyers discusses lesbians in sports, March Madness

Potomac native signed with the London Lions last August

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Abby Meyers (Photo courtesy of Abby Meyers)

Star basketball player Abby Meyers signed with the London Lions last August, but she called Maryland home before calling the shots in London.

Meyers, a lesbian shooting guard, grew up in Potomac and graduated from Walt Whitman High School in 2017. She played for Princeton in her undergraduate years and played for the University of Maryland during graduate school.

She began playing basketball in elementary school, and she was already showing an abundance of potential by the time she was in high school.

In her freshman year of high school, the school’s basketball coach sat down with Meyers and her family and showed them a list of universities with Division I basketball teams. Meyers circled the names of the schools that she was interested in attending. From there, the doors leading to a collegiate basketball career began to open. She began working towards her dream and ended up playing for Princeton.

“It was kind of like a mutual understanding between the two of us, me and basketball,” Meyers told the Washington Blade. “I took more individual lessons, and I just realized that the potential was sky high.”

She came back to her home state to attend the University of Maryland not only for its business program but also for its celebrated basketball team.

“I grew up watching Alyssa Thomas, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough and so many other legends that passed through that program,” Meyers said. “So for me, I knew that basketball-wise, it was the best decision I could make. … They definitely had all of the qualities to make me the best player I could be.”

Before shipping off to London, Meyers briefly played in the WNBA for the Washington Mystics in the summer of 2023. In fact, the aforementioned UMD alum Shatori Walker-Kimbrough was one of her teammates.

She described her time with the WNBA and in London so far as a “learning experience.” 

“I got to relearn what it meant to be a rookie again,” Meyers said. “All of a sudden you enter a new team, a new level and you’re at the bottom, and you just have to let your actions speak louder than your words.”

Meyers publicly came out around 2019, and since then she has been a role model for many other lesbian women in sports.

“By coming out I’m actually being my authentic self, but I was scared that people were going to judge me and look at me differently when in fact, I was met with open arms, love, and appreciation,” Meyers said.

Meyers believes the journey one takes to coming out is an individual process that looks different for everyone.

“At the end of the day, it’s your own race; run it at your own pace,” Meyers said.  “Never be apologetic for who you are. When you have to start compromising yourself and your values for other people like though that’s not the community you want to be a part of.”

She has not experienced much anti-LGBTQ stigma since coming out, but that does not mean that it does not exist in other sports communities. However, in this modern social climate, Meyers pointed out, people are much more accepting of gay women in sports.

Nina Hazra, a University of Maryland medical student, grew up playing basketball with Meyers. The two were on the same team in middle school, but they went to different high schools and would often play against each other. 

Hazra did not play much past high school, but she remained close friends with her former teammate and rival to this day. She went to most of the home games during Meyers’ stint at UMD.

Though Hazra does not identify with the LGBTQ community, she noticed a tension in the sports world that affects all women, regardless of sexuality. However, with today’s shifting climate, it has become easier for female athletes to express their identities

“Women who express strong emotions in sports are often treated differently than men who do the exact same thing,” Hazra said in an interview. “I feel like as we’ve gotten older, there’s been a lot more celebration of womanhood in whatever form in sports, and I think that’s one of the places where you can then kind of go outside those societal norms.”

But Hazra still noticed the impact Meyers had on younger generations in sports who may be struggling with their identities.

“It doesn’t matter your sexuality, your gender identity, all that stuff. That doesn’t matter when you’re playing a sport,” Hazra said. “A lot of us didn’t have role models in those years growing up and just to get to see her being that for so many girls is so amazing.”

Elisa Pinzan, also a former Terrapin, is good friends with Meyers. 

Originally from Italy, Pinzan played for the University of South Florida for four years before entering the transfer portal and landing at UMD. She now plays for Keflavik IF in Iceland.

Pinzan and Meyers formed a strong bond while playing for the Terrapins together. 

“She was the first person I got close to; she is very open, smiley and friendly, and I felt comfortable around her from the first day,” Pinzan described. “I am glad to have met someone like Abby, with such a kind soul.”

Pinzan thought that fans should keep their eyes peeled for the Terrapins this upcoming March Madness season. 

“They are a very young team with energy, enthusiasm and grit on the floor, and I think they are a lot better than the record they have,” Pinzan wrote about the Terrapins in an interview. “Despite being young though, they are learning a lot every game and I am sure they will be able to transfer these lessons for the best time of the year coming up.”

Meyers agreed that there is a lot to look forward to this March Madness. She said that with Coach Brenda Frese’s game plans and strong assistant staff, the Terrapins have a strong chance of advancing throughout the competition.

According to Meyers, March Madness will be different for women’s basketball this year, pointing out that it’s more popular right now than men’s games, as women’s basketball is selling out arenas.

“I only think it’s gonna get better and it’s going to grow even more,” Meyers said. “Just the marketing, the social media, the overall awareness of the women’s game. Fans are growing by the number.”

Meyers believes that female basketball players have to rely more on their skill than their athleticism, which she believes makes women’s games just as — if not more — exciting than men’s games. She said that over the past few years, there has been a strong shift in women’s viewership that has shrunk the gap between men’s and women’s basketball, including from a technical standpoint, given that men and women play with the same level of equipment.

Regardless of where UMD ends up this March Madness, Meyers will be cheering the Terrapins on from across the pond — especially the women.

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Banned trans golfer Hailey Davidson: ‘Hate and bigotry will never win’

NXXT mandates players must be ‘biological female at birth’

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Hailey Davidson on Good Morning Britain. (Good Morning Britain YouTube screenshot)

Transgender pro golfer Hailey Davidson is pushing back against a policy change announced Friday by the Florida-based mini-tour, NXXT. From now on, competitors must be “a biological female at birth” in order to participate. 

“Effective immediately, I have been removed (banned) from the next three NXXT tournaments that I had already signed up for and been approved to play,” said Davidson in a post on Instagram. “They changed their policy mid season, after signing me up already and being 2nd in the Player of the Year race.” 

The three-time winner from Scotland has played nine times on the tour this season.

According to a statement by the tour’s CEO, Stuart McKinnon, the change underscores the organization’s commitment to “maintaining the integrity of women’s professional golf and ensuring fair competition.” NXXT Golf issued that statement on International Women’s Day.

“As we navigate through the evolving landscape of sports, it is crucial to uphold the competitive integrity that is the cornerstone of women’s sports,” said McKinnon in the statement. “Our revised policy is a reflection of our unwavering commitment to celebrating and protecting the achievements and opportunities of female athletes. Protected categories are a fundamental aspect of sports at all levels and it is essential for our Tour to uphold these categories for biological females, ensuring a level playing field.”

Davidson said the policy change in her social media post was discrimination, adding that the decision denigrates cisgender female athletes as well as trans athletes. 

“You know what really bugs me is that people think I win just by showing up,” she wrote. “This is such a slap in the face to ALL female athletes being told that any male can transition and beat them regardless of the life of hard work those women put in.

“You think you’re attacking me, but you’re actually attacking and putting down ALL other female athletes.”

She concluded with a vow: “You can scream at me, threaten me, throw insults at me, and even ban me BUT I will ALWAYS get back up and keep fighting to the very end. Hate and bigotry will never win.”

Davidson also posted a message for the women she had planned to compete against: “I hope those NXXT players who are now in the top five are still able to earn those Epson Tour exemptions they were promised and continue to be reminded of in the previous couple of tournaments.” 

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