Sports
GAME CHANGERS: Mike Correlli of the Baltimore Flamingos
Charter member went from nerd to movie moment on the rugby pitch
Everyone who plays sports dreams of a “Field of Dreams” moment — this week in Game Changers, we meet a gay athlete who had his on the rugby pitch.
The LGBT-based Baltimore Flamingos RFC launched in the summer of 2016 when a group of hopeful players attended a Rugby 101 session in Baltimore with players from the Philadelphia Gryphons and Washington Scandals.
After nine months of practices and matches, charter member Mike Correlli became the first Flamingos player to score a try (grounding the ball in the opposition’s in-goal area) in competitive play at the Colonial Cup 2017 in Philadelphia.
“I was desperately trying to get out of the game because I had thrown my back out in an earlier match. I ended up catching a really easy pass and found a hole in their defense to score the try,” Correlli says. “It was my movie moment and people were crying because it was our first try. It is one of those life images that I think back on when I’m down. It always brings a smile to my face.”
Correlli grew up in a family of lacrosse fans in Perry Hall, Md. He played high school soccer for one year but had no interest and didn’t find any other sport that fit. He describes his college years at Towson State University as getting by, video gaming and nerd culture.
After graduating with a degree in journalism, he began looking for a way to get in shape and thought he would benefit from a group setting. He attended that first Flamingos Rugby 101 clinic and his life took a new turn.
“It was really the first time I was seeing an organization that was primarily a gay organization. After the clinic, I went directly to a sporting goods store and bought cleats,” Correlli says. “Rugby offers a strong sense of community and camaraderie. My Facebook friends list is completely different than it was four years ago.”
Correlli, who works as an account manger at a startup company, plays in the second row forward (lock) or 8-man positions with the Flamingos who compete in Division IV of the Mid-Atlantic Conference league. He served as a captain in 2019.
“I wasn’t expecting leadership to be so rewarding,” Correlli says. “Teaching people and watching them fall in love with the sport is an incredible experience.”
Tournament play is also part of being a Flamingos player and Correlli has competed throughout the Eastern Seaboard and Mid-Atlantic States. In 2018 he traveled to Amsterdam with the team for the Bingham Cup and is looking forward to their next global event in Ottawa in August.
“This sport has given me a better sense of self-confidence and I am more able to stand up for myself, both emotionally and physically,” Correlli says. “Rugby is also helping to bring the LGBT community together in Baltimore, which includes our Flamingos fans and supporters. There is a need and we are fulfilling it.”
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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