Connect with us

Sports

Team DC scholars: Where are they now?

Catching up with 3 award-winning student athletes

Published

8 years ago

on

Team DC college scholarship, gay news, Washington Blade

From left, Becca Stussman, Danny Martinelli and Michael Hull. (Photos courtesy of the subjects)

One surprising commonality about the back stories of the Team DC college scholarship winners is that, in many cases, the young athletes came out to their teammates before they came out to their friends and family.

Launched in 2008, the Team DC College Scholarship Fund has awarded more than $50,000 to 48 openly LGBT student-athletes in the D.C. area. It was one of the first scholarship programs in the United States to acknowledge the challenges that young students face when they compete as out athletes.

“There is safety, love and acceptance coming from the teammates of these young athletes. Much more than from society as a whole,” says Team DC founder and executive director, Brent Minor. “We knew that there were high school LGBT athletes out there playing and we wanted to validate their experience and highlight them to the coaches, athletic directors and parents.”

The scholarship winners have run the gamut of sports ranging from swimming to baseball to cheerleading. One thing that hasn’t been a surprise about the winners is that they have grown into successful adults with a sense of community outreach. One of the criteria for being granted the award is the potential for that quality of character.

In 2008, one of the first scholarships was given to Danny Martinelli who would go on to become a NCAA Division III swimmer at Marymount University and receive a degree in history. In attendance at the award ceremony in 2008 were two young girls with intellectual and developmental disabilities who Martinelli was mentoring in the pool. Eight years later he is still giving them developmental swim lessons, sometimes as many as four nights a week.

“The drill work I do with the girls requires a lot of time because I am actually in the water with them working toward the goal of building muscle memory,” says Martinelli. “I love instructing them in swimming and it is an important life skill for them to have. They are fearless.”

Martinelli grew up in Vienna, Va., and started swimming at age seven through the York Swim Club program. As a member of a family with a low socioeconomic status, his scholarship was used to pay for swimming gear and a training camp in Florida with his Marymount teammates.

“The scholarship was a tremendous help and I was very grateful,” Martinelli says. “I was so uncomfortable swimming as a gay man. I think the award helps to raise awareness and allows for students to become more comfortable in sports.”

Martinelli is finishing up his master’s degree at Marymount and also taking graduate classes at Johns Hopkins University. He plans to become an educator with a focus on urban, inner city educational reform.

Earlier this year, Martinez travelled to Peru as part of his duties with Virginia International University as an admissions & enrollment officer.

“We did a three-week phase one tour recruiting prospective students in rural and poor communities,” says Martinelli. “It was very fruitful and I loved that I was able to use my Spanish skills. We will be going back next year for phase two to develop partnerships.”

Michael Hull was one of the recipients of the scholarship in its second year. He left for Ball State in 2009 and transferred to George Mason University where he received a degree in kinesiology and nutritional science.

Hull wrapped up his employment as a researcher at Examine.com earlier this summer where he compiled literature on supplements. He will begin his master’s and doctorate work in human nutrition this fall at McGill University in Montreal.

“I am interested in changing my focus to clinical nutrition,” says Hull, “to put strategies in place for patients to be in a better place for post-operative recovery.”

Originally from Reston, Va., Hull played volleyball through high school and when time allowed, played in adult leagues during college. He was unable to attend the Team DC scholarship reception in 2009 because his Mormon parents would not have understood.

“I couldn’t go to the reception because I hadn’t told my parents that I had won the scholarship,” Hull says. “I was amazed that the award even existed and it was like an olive branch was being extended to me. I attended the reception the following year to show my appreciation.”

Hull has had the good fortune to find a group of friends to explore the world with and has traveled to Madagascar, Thailand, Mexico, Europe and Canada along with stateside destinations. During his preparations to move to Montreal this summer, he served for the third year as a student dietician at Setebaid, a Type-1 diabetes camp for kids.

“I am looking forward to the next part of my life in Montreal,” says Hull. “I have traveled there many times and the locals are very welcoming to everyone.”

Becca Stussman grew up in Olney, Md., and played multiple sports, including soccer, softball and basketball. She was part of the pilot program of Best Buddies at her high school serving as president.

The Best Buddies program fosters acceptance and inclusion of those with disabilities. Her work included encouraging participation in sports such as bocce, softball and track and field.

Stussman went on to attend Columbia University where she played club rugby all four years and created a new chapter of Best Buddies for her college.

“Playing rugby at Columbia really defined my college experience,” says Stussman. “As for Best Buddies, I was able to make connections on the administrative levels outside of Maryland to form the New York chapter.”

Stussman graduated from Columbia in the spring with a degree in mechanical engineering and will be working in New York in engineering consulting. Her Team DC scholarship was awarded in 2012.

“I was really excited to receive that award because it directly applied to someone like me,” says Stussman. “I might not have been honored otherwise.”

She is hoping to stay involved with Best Buddies in New York through their citizens program, which includes outings to museums, picnics and social gatherings. Her rugby future may also continue if time permits.

“I am hoping to play with the New York Rugby Club,” says Stussman. “Even if I don’t, I will still hang out with the team. I love the energy in New York.”

The 2016 Team DC College Scholarship Winners

• Jauan Durbin, School Without Walls High School, D.C./Morehouse College

• Adonis Garcia, Cardozo High School, D.C./Marymount University

• Joshua Hicks, Chesapeake High School, Pasadena, Md./University of Maryland

• Jasmine Johnson, Ballou High School, D.C./Delaware State University

• Stephen Lambert, Northern Virginia Community College/George Mason University

• Daja Latten, Cardozo High School, D.C./Virginia State University

• Elaina Perry, Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Greenbelt, Md./American University

Related Topics:
Advertisement
FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM
SIGN UP FOR E-BLAST

Sports

Bisexual former umpire sues Major League Baseball for sexual harassment

Brandon Cooper claims female colleague sexually harassed him

Published

1 day ago

on

April 25, 2024

By

Arizona Complex League game in 2023. (YouTube screenshot)

A fired former umpire is suing Major League Baseball, claiming he was sexually harassed by a female umpire and discriminated against because of his gender and his sexual orientation. 

Brandon Cooper worked in the minor league Arizona Complex League last year, and according to the lawsuit he filed Wednesday in federal court in Manhattan, he identifies as bisexual. 

“I wanted my umpiring and ability to speak for itself and not to be labeled as ‘Brandon Cooper the bisexual umpire,’” he told Outsports. “I didn’t want to be labeled as something. It has been a passion of mine to simply make it to the Major Leagues.”

But that didn’t happen. Instead of being promoted, he was fired. His suit names MLB and an affiliated entity, PDL Blue, Inc., and alleges he had endured a hostile work environment and wrongful termination and/or retaliation because of gender and sexual orientation under New York State and New York City law.

“Historically the MLB has had a homogenous roster of umpires working in both the minor and major leagues,” Cooper claims in his suit. “Specifically, to date there has never been a woman who has worked in a (regular) season game played in the majors, and most umpires are still Caucasian men. To try to fix its gender and racial diversity issue, defendants have implemented an illegal diversity quota requiring that women be promoted regardless of merit.”

Cooper claims former umpire Ed Rapuano, now an umpire evaluator, and Darren Spagnardi, an umpire development supervisor, told him in January 2023 that MLB had a hiring quota, requiring that at least two women be among 10 new hires.

According to the suit, Cooper was assigned to spring training last year and was notified by the senior manager of umpire administration, Dusty Dellinger, that even though he received a high rating in June from former big league umpire Jim Reynolds, now an umpire supervisor, that women and minority candidates had to be hired first. 

Cooper claims that upon learning Cooper was bisexual, fellow umpire Gina Quartararo insulted him and fellow umpire Kevin Bruno by using homophobic slurs and crude remarks. At that time, Quartararo and Cooper worked on the same umpiring crew and being evaluated for possible promotion to the big leagues.

This season, Quartararo is working as an umpire in the Florida State League, one of nine women who are working as minor league umpires.

Cooper said he notified Dellinger, but instead of taking action against Quartararo, he said MLB ordered Cooper to undergo sensitivity training. According to his lawsuit, he was also accused of violating the minor league anti-discrimination and harassment policy.

Cooper’s suit says he met with MLB Senior Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Billy Bean — who the Los Angeles Blade reported in December is battling cancer. 

The lawsuit says at that meeting, Bean told the umpire that Quartararo claimed she was the victim, as the only female umpire in the ACL. Cooper said he told Bean Quartararo regularly used homophobic slurs and at one point physically shoved him. He also claims that he has video evidence, texts and emails to prove his claim. 

But he said his complaints to Major League Baseball officials were ignored. His lawsuit said MLB passed him over for the playoffs and fired him in October. He said of the 26 umpires hired with Cooper, he was the only one let go.

Through a spokesperson, MLB declined to comment on pending litigation. Quartararo has also not publicly commented on the lawsuit.

Continue Reading

Sports

Brittney Griner, wife expecting first child

WNBA star released from Russian gulag in December 2022

Published

1 week ago

on

April 16, 2024

By

Cherelle and Brittney Griner are expecting their first child in July. The couple shared the news on Instagram. (Photo courtesy of Brittney Griner's Instagram page)

One year after returning to the WNBA after her release from a Russian gulag and declaring, “I’m never playing overseas again,” Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner and her wife announced they have something even bigger coming up this summer. 

Cherelle, 31, and Brittney, 33, are expecting their first child in July. The couple shared the news with their 715,000 followers on Instagram. 

“Can’t believe we’re less than three months away from meeting our favorite human being,” the caption read, with the hashtag, #BabyGrinerComingSoon and #July2024.

Griner returned to the U.S. in December 2022 in a prisoner swap, more than nine months after being arrested in Moscow for possession of vape cartridges containing prescription cannabis.

In April 2023, at her first news conference following her release, the two-time Olympic gold medalist made only one exception to her vow to never play overseas again: To return to the Summer Olympic Games, which will be played in Paris starting in July, the same month “Baby Griner” is due. “The only time I would want to would be to represent the USA,” she said last year. 

Given that the unrestricted free agent is on the roster of both Team USA and her WNBA team, it’s not immediately clear where Griner will be when their first child arrives. 

The Griners purchased their “forever home” in Phoenix just last year.

“Phoenix is home,” Griner said at the Mercury’s end-of-season media day, according to ESPN. “Me and my wife literally just got a place. This is it.”

As the Los Angeles Blade reported last December, Griner is working with Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts — like Griner, a married lesbian — on an ESPN television documentary as well as a television series for ABC about her life story. Cherelle is executive producer of these projects. 

Next month, Griner’s tell-all memoir of her Russian incarceration will be published by Penguin Random House. It’s titled “Coming Home” and the hardcover hits bookstores on May 7.

Continue Reading

Sports

Applause and criticism for Staley’s trans-inclusive stance

South Carolina Gamecocks women’s coach made comments on Sunday

Published

3 weeks ago

on

April 9, 2024

By

South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball head coach Dawn Staley. (NBC News Today YouTube screenshot)

If not for a conservative transphobic blogger, this moment should be a celebration of NCAA women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley and the women of the South Carolina Gamecocks.

On Sunday, they concluded their undefeated season with a decisive win and a championship title. But when Staley faced reporters before that big game, Outkick’s Dan Zakheske asked her an irrelevant, clickbait question about transgender women in sports, referring to them as “biological males.” 

Staley could have ignored the question, or stated she had no opinion, but instead the legendary coach offered a crystal clear endorsement of trans women competing in women’s sports, something outlawed in her home state of South Carolina for girls in kindergarten through college. 

“I’m of the opinion,” said Staley, “If you’re a woman, you should play. If you consider yourself a woman and you want to play sports or vice versa, you should be able to play. That’s my opinion.”

Zakheske clearly wasn’t satisfied with that declaration of allyship and Staley swiftly cut him off. 

“You want me to go deeper?” she asked. 

“Do you think transgender women should be able to participate,” he started to say, when the coach stole the ball and took it downtown on a fastbreak. “That’s the question you want to ask? I’ll give you that. Yes. Yes. So, now the barnstormer people are going to flood my timeline and be a distraction to me on one of the biggest days of our game, and I’m okay with that. I really am.” 

Staley is herself a Hall of Fame player a leading voice for diversity. 

Reaction to her comments were swift, from LGBTQ rights organizations, athletes and inclusion opponents. 

“Coach Staley simply spoke the truth that trans women are women and should play if they want,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, in a post on Instagram. “All of us can take a page from Coach Staley’s playbook as a sports leader and as a person of high integrity guided by faith, compassion and common sense.” 

A White House pool reporter revealed President Joe Biden called Staley Sunday evening to congratulate her and the Gamecocks on their championship win. But it’s not clear if she and the president, an outspoken supporter of trans rights, discussed her remarks on trans athletes. 

A number of Black leaders in the LGBTQ movement applauded Staley for taking a stand. 

“Coach Staley has always been a trailblazer, but she’s also shown that true leadership is about advancing justice and equality for everyone,” said Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson. “By expressing her full-throated support for transgender athletes’ inclusion in sports, she’s sending an important message — our shared humanity matters. 

“Coach Staley showed courage and vulnerability, in choosing to answer the question and make a powerful statement of support for trans people on one of the biggest days and biggest stages in sports history,” said Kierra Johnson, executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force, in a statement. “Not only does that make her a leader we can all aspire to like, it makes her a class act. She has etched her legacy in the history books with her play, her coaching, her heart and her smarts.”

In congratulating Staley on her championship title victory, Dr. David J. Johns, the CEO and executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, also commended her for “her unwavering advocacy and support for transgender people in sports.” 

“In a time when transgender athetes face unjust scrutiny, discrimination and exclusion from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, her courage to speak truth to power and in support of inclusion and fairness sets a powerful example for us all, and is a testament to her integrity and compassion.”

The NBJC leader was referring to Monday’s announcement by the NAIA, the governing body of athletic programs at small colleges nationwide, voting 20-0 to essentially ban trans women from competing with other women beginning Aug. 1, as ESPN reported.

“It is a shocking and devastating development that the NAIA, an organization that has done so much to open doors, is now slamming those doors shut on transgender athletes,” said Sasha Buchert, Lambda Legal’s senior attorney and director of the organization’s nonbinary and trans rights project. 

“Instead of standing up in support of transgender young people, the NAIA has simply turned its back on them — permanently depriving them of the benefits of competition. Would that they had the courage of victorious University of South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley, who didn’t miss a beat in clarifying that transgender women should be able to play.” 

However, praise for Staley’s stance was not universal. 

Riley Gaines, failed former college swimmer and paid shill for the anti-inclusion organization, Independent Women’s Forum, called Staley “entirely incompetent or a sell-out” on Fox News. “Personally, I don’t think she believes what she said.” 

Gaines has turned her fifth-place tie with out trans NCAA champion Lia Thomas into a career as a crusader against inclusion and a former advisor to the presidential campaign of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Val Whiting, a former Stanford University and professional women’s basketball player, tweeted her strong disagreement with Staley. “A lot of my basketball sisters feel differently but trans women do not belong in women’s sports. It’s not fair nor safe for biological women. There has to be another solution for trans women to be able to compete athletically besides having them compete against biological women.” 

Zaksheske’s Outkick colleague, anti-trans pundit David Hookstead, also went all-in with a transphobic post. 

“Dawn Staley says she supports men who identify as women competing against real women in sports. Her view could literally destroy women’s basketball forever. Why won’t more people stand up for women?”

Hookstead then boasted that Staley blocked his account. 

Republican South Carolina Congresswoman Nancy Mace retweeted Zaksheske’s account of his interaction with Staley, calling her support of trans athletes “absolute lunacy.” That in turn won praise from Caitlyn Jenner, who retweeted Whiting and posted her thanks to Mace, along with this comment: “There is nothing complicated about this issue!” 

What is complicated is that Jenner has never explained why she has competed with cisgender women in golf ever since her transition almost a decade ago. 

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Advertisement

Sign Up for Weekly E-Blast

Follow Us @washblade

Advertisement

Popular