Sports
Getting in the game
Opportunities abound for local LGBT sports lovers
Rolando Munar in action at a recent CARA bowling event. (Photo courtesy CARA)
Several of the Washington-based LGBT sports clubs come to life in the spring season. There are a multitude of opportunities to become involved in this growing community.
The Capital Area Rainbowlers Association (CARA) has several bowling leagues in bloom and is looking for bowlers of all skill levels.
Ten Pin Pride is Mondays at 8 p.m. at AMF Annandale Lanes with four-person teams.
Smack is Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. at AMF Alexandria Lanes with two-person teams.
Rainbowl League is Tuesdays at 7 p.m. at AMF College Park Lanes with one-person teams.
We Are Everywhere is Thursdays at 7:45 p.m. at AMF Annandale Lanes with three-person teams.
More information on CARA is at carabowling.org.
The District of Columbia Aquatics Club (DCAC) is in training for the International Gay & Lesbian Aquatic championships, which will be held in Reykjavic, Iceland beginning on May 30. The swimmers will be gunning to defend their world title in the large team category.
The swimmers also look to host their annual open water event Swim for Life on July 14. More information on the DCAC is at swimdcac.org.
Spring practices have begun for the Washington Renegades Rugby Football Club which competes in the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union. Match play for the team begins March 10 and the group can be found practicing at Cardozo High School. More information on the ruggers is at dcrugby.com.
The D.C. Sentinels basketball team is heading to Chicago for the Coady Roundball Classic which begins April 10 to defend the title they won last year. The Roundballers are also hosting happy hours at Mova and have also begun hosting D.C. Invasion events on straight bars. More information on the Sentinels is atteamdcbasketball.org.
The Stonewall Kickball league recently maxed out on their league cap of 480 players for the spring league. You can catch them playing every Sunday at Stead Field from 2 to 6 p.m. beginning March 25. More information on kickball is atstonewallsports.org/kickball.
The D.C. Gay Flag Football League has also maxed out on its spring league but prospective members can get on a waiting list. You can see them in action on Sundays from 9:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Carter Barron fields. This season also touts four evenings of Friday Night Lights to be contested at Randall Field.
The group recently sent two teams to the Florida Sunshine Cup in Fort Lauderdale. One of the teams, led by quarterback Brandon Waggoner, made it to the championship game before falling to the eventual winners. More information on the League is at dcgffl.org.
Registration is now open for the Learn to Row program offered by the D.C. Strokes Rowing Club. The first session begins April 28 and the Strokes are based at the Anacostia Community Boathouse.
Former Strokes rower and Learn to Row alumni Jason Beagle gave up his job in D.C. last fall and moved to Oklahoma City to train for an opportunity to join the United States Paralympics team. You can read about his incredible journey thus far atdcstrokes.org.
The Federal Triangles Soccer Club is hosting the third annual Women’s Winter Wrap-Up Indoor Cup on March 18 at the Rockville Sportsplex. Upcoming league information for the Triangles is at federaltriangles.org.
The winter leagues for the Capital Tennis Association are still in full swing through April. Registration for the summer league will open soon and the season runs from May to September. More information is at capital-tennis.org.
Sailing season will begin soon and there will be many opportunities to join theRainbow Spinnakers Sailing Club for a sail on the bay. You can either ride along as a passenger or train to be a skipper. More information on the RSSC is atrainbowspinnakers.org.
Golf season for the Lambda Links Golf Club begins April 1 and runs through October 28. For information on tee off dates and tournaments, go to lambdalinks.org.
The Adventuring outdoors group continues its weekly hiking trips with the Bull Run Mountain Hike on March 4. Look for their recreational biking series to begin in the next few months. For more information, go to adventuring.org.
The Rainbow Climbing League of D.C. has expanded its rock climbing offerings through the spring season. Members are at Sportrock in Alexandria on Tuesdays, Sportrock in Sterling on Wednesdays and Earth Treks in Rockville on Mondays. They can occasionally be found climbing at Earth Treks in Columbia. Check out their Facebook page at Rainbow Climbing D.C.
Lambda DanceSPORT D.C. continues its lessons in ballroom, Latin, swing and assorted other dance styles every Wednesday and Sunday at the Church of the Pilgrims in Dupont Circle. For more events, go to lambdadancesportdc.org.
Washington sports clearinghouse, Team D.C. will be hosting its annual Team D.C. Fashion Show and Model Search to support its student/athlete college scholarship fund. This year’s event will held at Town on March 10 and will feature fashions by Thomas Christopher Apparel, Fireboy Underwear, The Leather Rack and Universal Gear. You can vote on the models in advance at teamdc.org.
Team D.C. will also be hosting another SportsFest on April 12. This is your opportunity to walk the gauntlet of the LGBT sports clubs in D.C. as they line up to recruit new athletes.
Didn’t see your sport of choice on the list today? Check out all the rest of the sports clubs at teamdc.org.
Iran and Egypt on Friday faced off during the World Cup’s “Pride Match” in Seattle.
Iran is among the handful of countries in which consensual same-sex sexual relations remain punishable by death. Discrimination and persecution based on sexual orientation and gender identity is commonplace in Egypt.
Friday’s match coincided with Pride weekend in Seattle. The Egyptian Football Association and the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran both objected to playing in the “Pride Match.”
Egypt and Iran tied 1-1.
FIFA, for its part, allowed Pride flags inside the stadium during the match.
“The FIFA World Cup 2026 is an inclusive event that welcomes people from all backgrounds,” a FIFA spokesperson told the Washington Blade in a statement. “Fans of all sexual orientations and gender identities are welcome at matches and events. General statements of human rights, including rainbow flags and other flags representing sexual orientation and gender identity, are permitted under the FIFA World Cup 2026™ Stadium Code of Conduct and may be displayed inside stadiums provided they are used in a manner consistent with the code.”
Human Rights Watch welcomed FIFA’s decision to allow Pride flags inside the stadium. Outright International, a global LGBTQ and intersex rights group, distributed Pride flags in Seattle on Friday, which was Pride Match Day.
“Visibility matters,” said Outright International Executive Director Maria Sjödin. “Pride is now being celebrated in more than 100 countries, including this weekend in Seattle. For many LGBTIQ people, seeing a Pride flag in public is a reminder that they are not alone, and that their rights and dignity are recognized.”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino earlier this year told Die Weltwoche, a Swiss magazine, that “there will be no ‘Pride Match’ at the (FIFA) World Cup.”
“There will be a FIFA World Cup match in Seattle, and on the same day, events organized by external organizations will be taking place in the city,” said Infantino. “But that has nothing to do with the match itself.”
Peter Tatchell, a long-time LGBTQ activist from the U.K. who is director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation, was among those who traveled to Seattle for Friday’s match. Tatchell accused FIFA of not vetting World Cup teams — specifically Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Senegal, Qatar, Tunisia, Morocco, Iraq, Uzbekistan, and Algeria — over whether they would allow gay players.
“FIFA is protecting LGBT+ visibility in the stands while failing to protect LGBT+ players on the pitch,” said Tatchell.
The Baltimore Orioles will take on the Washington Nationals on Friday, June 26 at 7 p.m. for Pride Night at Oriole Park.
The first 15,000 fans will receive an exclusive Pride Night Orioles jersey. The Washington Blade is a media sponsor of this event.
To purchase tickets, visit Orioles.com/Tickets.
Sports
Minor league team in York, Pa., forfeits Pride Night game after some players refuse to wear special jersey
City is roughly 20 miles north of Md. border
An independent minor league baseball team says it is forfeiting a game because some of its players refused to wear a special Pride Night jersey.
The Atlantic League Pro Baseball’s York Revolution were planning to hold their 11th annual Pride Night event Thursday for a game against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs.
But the Revolution announced the day of the game that it wouldn’t be played. York is about 20 miles north of the Maryland line. The Blue Crabs play in Waldorf.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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