Sports
Time to play ball
CAPS gears up for 29th softball season
There’s still time to register for softball. Three registration events will be held this month. (Photos by Scott Trump)
The Chesapeake and Potomac Softball League (CAPS) is gearing up for its 29th season, which kicks off Sunday, May 1 at Watkins Regional Park in Upper Marlboro.
The group has three remaining early bird registration events, which will take place at Cobalt on Saturday, PW’s Sports Bar on March 26 and Freddie’s on March 27. The registration events are an opportunity to meet the board of directors, coaches and other players along with getting $10 off the cost of joining, which is normally $50.
CAPS was founded in 1983 and over the years has become one of the larger LGBT sports teams in the area. There are currently 500 players on 27 teams with multiple divisions.
There are three open divisions consisting of both men and women with three different skill categories: B, C and D. There are two women’s divisions — B and C. The season runs for nine weeks and each team plays 18 games during that period on consecutive Sundays.
For those who may be apprehensive about playing or just want to recheck their abilities, the group offers a skills clinic run by professionals. The skills clinic will be offered at 10 a.m. on Sunday, April 17 at the Tucker Road Field in Fort Washington.
A few years ago, CAPS formed Friends of the League for people who want to be a part of the group without playing. For $10 you can become a member and attend the season kick-off party at Cobalt on April 30 and also the end-of-season party at Nellie’s on July 31.
CAPS is a member of the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance (NAGAAA) and the Amateur Sports Alliance of North America (ASANA). NAGAAA is a huge organization, which boasts 680 teams and more than 10,000 players in 41 cities across North America. Each year it hosts the Gay Softball World Series. In 2010, CAPS sent four teams to the event held in Columbus, Ohio. CAPS currently has a bid in for the 2013 World Series and is competing with Portland and Dallas for the selection.
Ed Vincent, CAPS League Commissioner stated that if they are accepted as the host city, D.C. can expect to see more than 2,000 players come into the area for the event.
In addition to regular season play, the players also travel to a few tournaments throughout the 41-city NAGAAA member circuit. For more information on CAPS, go to capssoftball.org.
More than a dozen LGBTQ athletes won medals at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics that ended on Sunday.
Cayla Barnes, Hilary Knight, and Alex Carpenter are LGBTQ members of the U.S. women’s hockey team that won a gold medal after they defeated Canada in overtime. Knight the day before the Feb. 19 match proposed to her girlfriend, Brittany Bowe, an Olympic speed skater.
French ice dancer Guillaume Cizeron, who is gay, and his partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry won gold. American alpine skier Breezy Johnson, who is bisexual, won gold in the women’s downhill. Amber Glenn, who identifies as bisexual and pansexual, was part of the American figure skating team that won gold in the team event.
Swiss freestyle skier Mathilde Gremaud, who is in a relationship with Vali Höll, an Austrian mountain biker, won gold in women’s freeski slopestyle.
Bruce Mouat, who is the captain of the British curling team that won a silver medal, is gay. Six members of the Canadian women’s hockey team — Emily Clark, Erin Ambrose, Emerance Maschmeyer, Brianne Jenner, Laura Stacey, and Marie-Philip Poulin — that won silver are LGBTQ.
Swedish freestyle skier Sandra Naeslund, who is a lesbian, won a bronze medal in ski cross.
Belgian speed skater Tineke den Dulk, who is bisexual, was part of her country’s mixed 2000-meter relay that won bronze. Canadian ice dancer Paul Poirier, who is gay, and his partner, Piper Gilles, won bronze.
Laura Zimmermann, who is queer, is a member of the Swiss women’s hockey team that won bronze when they defeated Sweden.
Outsports.com notes all of the LGBTQ Olympians who competed at the games and who medaled.
Sports
US wins Olympic gold medal in women’s hockey
Team captain Hilary Knight proposed to girlfriend on Wednesday
The U.S. women’s hockey team on Thursday won a gold medal at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
Team USA defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime. The game took place a day after Team USA captain Hilary Knight proposed to her girlfriend, Brittany Bowe, an Olympic speed skater.
Cayla Barnes and Alex Carpenter — Knight’s teammates — are also LGBTQ. They are among the more than 40 openly LGBTQ athletes who are competing in the games.
The Olympics will end on Sunday.
Sports
Attitude! French ice dancers nail ‘Vogue’ routine
Cizeron and Fournier Beaudry strike a pose in memorable Olympics performance
Madonna’s presence is being felt at the Olympic Games in Italy.
Guillaume Cizeron and his rhythm ice dancing partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry of France performed a flawless skate to Madonna’s “Vogue” and “Rescue Me” on Monday.
The duo scored an impressive 90.18 for their effort, the best score of the night.
“We’ve been working hard the whole season to get over 90, so it was nice to see the score on the screen,” Fournier Beaudry told Olympics.com. “But first of all, just coming out off the ice, we were very happy about what we delivered and the pleasure we had out there. With the energy of the crowd, it was really amazing.”
Watch the routine on YouTube here.
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