Sports
Basketball showdown
D.C. Sentinels fulfill dream of starting sports league
(Washington Blade photo by Tyler Grigsby)
Just a few days before the March Madness NCAA Tournament kicked off nationwide, the D.C. Sentinels cooked up a little madness of their own.
The playoffs and championships of the inaugural Washington D.C. Gay Basketball League were held on March 14 at St. Albans School. Team NOMA, sponsored by K&C Productions, claimed the league’s first title.
The D.C. Sentinels, whose members have been playing pick-up games and representing D.C. in tournaments since 1984, had long hoped to create a league for the local LGBT sports community.
“It has always been a plan of the D.C. Sentinels to start a league,” says Tim Francis, Chair of the D.C. Sentinels. “We were just waiting for the right timing.”
The “right timing” came about when Jeffrey Richardson, former director of the Mayor’s GLBT Affairs office, arranged a meeting with the Sentinels and Jason Wilson, associate athletics director/facilities of George Washington University.
The Charles E. Smith Center at the University had two hours available on Thursday nights and the planning began along with Sam Williams from the University for the League to run for eight weeks from January to March.
The two-hour opening at the Charles E. Smith Center meant that the League capacity would be 80 players on 10 teams. The League slots filled up immediately with many players from the current D.C. Sentinel’s roster of 40 joining in.
“We had some great crossover from other LGBT sports such as softball, kickball and flag football,” Francis says.
The D.C. Sentinels are members of the National Gay Basketball Association and the League ran five-on-five basketball play under modified rules from the national association.
Following the conclusion of the League, the Sentinels returned to their regular schedule of pick-up games. Thursday and Saturday games are held at Turkey Thicket with occasional play at Westland Middle School.
Coming up on April 20-21, the Sentinels will travel to Chicago for the Coady Roundball Classic which will feature roughly 35 LGBT basketball teams from across the United States. The Sentinels will be sending three squads.
On July 19-20, the Sentinels will play host to a tournament here in Washington. Details of the event will be announced in the next month.
As for the League, plans are already being made for the next season to run this summer from June to August at George Washington University.
“No one wants to be inside on the weekends in the summer,” Francis says. “We will once again be looking for the League to run on Thursday nights.”
I was a spectator at the League championships on March 14 at St. Albans School. There was encouraging cheers from teammates, players fouling out (that’s six fouls), confrontations with referees and great action from all the players. I was thoroughly entertained.
March Madness has nothing on them.
The D.C. Sentinels can be found at teamdcbasketball.org. The League can be found on Facebook under Washington D.C. Gay Basketball League.
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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