Sports
Area cornhole league offers friendly competition, low-impact sport
Ankle injury led local lesbian to form all-girl team
The Washington Blade All Star series showcases local athletes playing in LGBT sports leagues. This week we meet two players from Rogue Cornhole who are competing in season three of the league, which began Wednesday at The Midlands.
Originally from Washington, Mica Willis lived overseas in Saudi Arabia, Peru and Mexico while her mother worked for the State Department. At age 9, she began playing soccer while living in Saudi Arabia.
She continued playing as a goalie in women’s and co-ed soccer leagues while attending the College of William & Mary. An internship and employment with the LGBTQ Victory Fund brought her back to the D.C. area in 2013.
Her first step into the LGBT sports community was with Stonewall Dodgeball in 2015, which she says was an intense experience. Her fiancé Emily is a Charm City Rollergirl and Willis subsequently suffered a broken ankle during a casual skate.
She had surgery in late 2016 and spent a year re-learning how to walk. It looked like her sports career was over and she joined a flip cup league to stay socially active.
Also playing in the flip cup league was Kevin Comerford who would go on to launch Rogue Cornhole last fall.
“I had been thinking a lot about the LGBT sports community and how there are not very many women playing, especially queer women,” Willis says. “I have a lot of gay male friends but not many lasting friendships with queer women.”
Recruiting co-workers at her current place of employment, NGP Van, Willis formed a lesbian-only team called the Funbags.
“I had all these friends at work, and we needed an excuse to hang out outside of the office,” Willis says. “Rogue Cornhole has a chill vibe and is not clique-y. Playing cornhole in a cool bar is a great ending to a stressful day at work.”
Willis is eventually hoping to try a few more low-impact sports such as golf or billiards. In the meantime, she has a technique that works for her in the sport of cornhole.
“There is a process and I can’t throw without a beer in my hand. In the winter league, it’s a hot toddy and its part of my balance,” Willis says. “I need a two-three beer warmup before I am at my sweet spot. It is my hurdle to compete well.”
Daniel Ferrucci grew up in Grove City, Pa., and played high school basketball, golf and track & field as well as club volleyball.
He started his collegiate career at Adrian College before transferring to University of North Carolina Wilmington where he broke records in track & field. A job in corporate retail moved him to D.C. in 2009.
Fulfilling something he always wanted to do, Ferrucci started playing ice hockey and has been with the same group in Fairfax for eight years. His entry into the LGBT sports community began with Stonewall Kickball, Rogue Darts and Stonewall Dodgeball.
Ferrucci was running Cornhole for a Cause, which benefits SMYAL, when he was approached by Rogue League Sports for advice on starting a cornhole league.
“It has been exciting to watch the growth of it. One thing they have done well is grounding the competition — there is no judgement of anybody,” Ferrucci says. “It is very inclusive, and everyone gets a long really well. In cornhole, you get the opportunity to talk and meet people you wouldn’t normally meet.”
Along with hockey and Rogue Cornhole, Ferrucci is also playing Rogue Darts and Stonewall Kickball. He is joined in cornhole, darts and kickball by his partner John.
“I met John when we were teammates in 2014 in Stonewall Kickball,” Ferrucci says. “There is an unspoken rule that you shouldn’t date within the team, so we had to keep it under wraps.”
With so many sports commitments, Ferrucci still found it important to return to Rogue Cornhole for season three.
“After living in Pennsylvania, Michigan and North Carolina, I can say that cornhole has always been in my life,” Ferrucci says. “My Rogue Cornhole team is part of my core group of friends and the laid back chill mentality of the league opens the door to new friendships. It is so much fun.”
Sports
New IOC policy bans trans women from Olympics
New regulation to be in effect at 2028 summer games in Los Angeles
The International Olympic Committee on Thursday announced it will not allow transgender women from competing in female events at the Olympics.
“For all disciplines on the Sports Program of an IOC event, including individual and team sports, eligibility for any Female Category is limited to biological females,” reads the new policy.
The policy states “eligibility for the Female Category is to be determined in the first instance by SRY Gene screening to detect the absence or presence of the SRY Gene.”
“On the basis of the scientific evidence, the IOC considers that the SRY (sex-determining Region Y) Gene is fixed throughout life and represents highly accurate evidence that an athlete has experienced or will experience male sex development,” it reads. “Furthermore, the IOC considers that SRY Gene screening via saliva, cheek swab or blood sample is unintrusive compared to other possible methods. Athletes who screen negative for the SRY gene permanently satisfy this policy’s eligibility criteria for competition in the Female Category.”
The policy states the test “will be a once-in-a-lifetime test” unless “there is reason to believe a negative reading is in error.”
The new regulation will be in place for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
“I understand that this a very sensitive topic,” said IOC President Kirsty Coventry on Thursday in a video. “As a former athlete, I passionately believe in the rights of all Olympians to take part in fair competition.”
“The policy that we have announced is based on science and it has been led by medical experts with the best interests of athletes at its heart. The scientific evidence is very clear: male chromosomes give performance advances in sport that rely on strength, power, or endurance,” she added. “At the Olympic Games, even the smallest margins can be the difference between victory and defeat. So, it is absolutely clear that it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category. In addition, in some sports it would simply not be safe.”
(Video courtesy of the IOC)
Laurel Hubbard, a weightlifter from New Zealand, in 2021 became the first trans woman to compete at the Olympics.
Imane Khelif, an Algerian boxer, won a gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Khelif later sued JK Rowling and Elon Musk for cyberstalking after they questioned her gender identity.
Ellis Lundholm, a mogul skier from Sweden, this year became the first openly trans athlete to compete in any Winter Olympics when he participated in Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy.
President Donald Trump in February 2025 issued an executive order that bans trans women and girls from female sports teams in the U.S.
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee last July banned trans women from competing in female sporting events. Republican lawmakers have demanded the IOC ban trans athletes from women’s athletic competitions.
“I’m grateful the Olympics finally embraced the common sense policy that women’s sports are for women, not for men,” said U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on X.
An IOC spokesperson on Thursday referred the Washington Blade to the press release that announced the new policy.
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.
Mayor Bowser signs bill requiring insurers to cover PrEP
JD Vance to travel to Hungary next week
Pam Bondi ousted as attorney general
VIDEO: Gay journalist detained for booing Trumps at ‘Chicago’ opening night
Idaho Gov. signs harshest anti-trans bathroom bill in the country
‘Out for McDuffie’ event held at D.C. gay bar
‘Jonah’ an undeniably compelling but unusual memory play
The Oscar-losing performance that’s too good to miss
Thousands attend ‘No Kings’ protests in D.C.
