With about one year to go before Gay Game 9 opens in Cleveland, the event is shaping up to be "one of the most exciting and enjoyable Gay Games ever," said Rob Smitherman, the events & operations director who also has worked on-site at the past two Games and is a Chicago native.
Smitherman, 53, was the sports manager in Chicago for the 2006 Games, organizing eight sports, obtaining sanctions for all sanctioned sports, assisting in winding down the sports and events after Games Chicago. He also was the sports manager at the 2010 Games in Cologne, organizing sports, assisting in registration, venues, events, and more.
Athletes, artists, volunteers, friends and family are expected to attend the unveiling of a permanent legacy to the 2006 Gay Games (which took place in Chicago seven years ago this month) at the Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted St., on Saturday, July 13, 1-4 p.m.
Former participants and volunteers are encouraged to wear their Gay Games Chicago uniforms, T-shirts, medals, pins and more to the free event. There will be special giveaways of GGVII merchandise.
Representatives of Cleveland+Akron 2014, the site of the 9th Gay Games, will be on hand to answer questions about that event, scheduled for Aug. 9-14, 2014. Those who register at the event will save money on their fees.
The special display to be unveiled at the Center on Halsted was designed by David Woody, Director of Design & Development at Chicago's Museum of Science & Industry and a member of the Chicago 2006 Board, with support from Tracy Baim, publisher of Windy City Times and co-vice chair of Chicago 2006. The display contains photos and artifacts from the event.
Gay Games 9, presented by the Cleveland Foundation, runs Aug. 9-16, 2014, with 38 sports and cultural events, plus opening and closing ceremonies. There also will be a Festival Village and other LGBT events throughout the week, which is expected to draw 10,000 participants from 65 countries.
"The enthusiasm and excitement of the people in Cleveland and Akron have me so optimistic that the week will be fantastic," Smitherman said. "Most people I meet in both cities are already aware of the Gay Games and the support from both communities is overwhelming."
Smitherman said that organizers have almost all the venues set, and the planning for the events and ceremonies is moving forward.
"Registration is on track, approximately where it has been budgeted. The large majority of registrations occur within the last year before the Games," he said.
To date, there are registered Gay Game 9 participants ranging in age from 22 to 79, with 19 countries represented from five continents. From the United States, there already are registered participants from 36 states. The largest numbers are from Ohio, Illinois and California.
So far, the most popular sports are marathon/half marathon, swimming, tennis, and track & field.
No sport is close to being closed at this point, Smitherman said, "but we have limited space in sailing and golf, and they will probably be the first sports that close."
Plus, no sports at this point will, potentially, be canceled due to lack of registration, he said.
"The 2014 Gay Games are in a good place financially at this point. We are on track to meet our budget, both in fundraising and in other support," Smitherman said. "The [host] cities and the region have embraced the 2014 Gay Games in an overwhelming manner. The entire state is becoming excited to be part of the only Gay Games that will occur in the United States this decade."
The city of Akron will host several events, including softball, track & field, soccer and martial arts. The marathon/half marathon is going to be run through the streets of Akron, and the 10K road race will occur in the Akron area, too.
"The arts and culture in the Cleveland area are amazing; the culinary scene is one of the best in the country; Cleveland has been named one of the best beer cities in the United States, and the city is ringed with parks, including the Cuyahoga National Park," Smitherman said. "The band and choral events [that are part of the Games] are going to be amazing because we are going to have a great venue, which we are soon to announce. The Festival Village will have events every day. We are coordinating outside cultural events that will be part of the themes of the Gay Games: Participation, Inclusion and Personal Best."
Other Gay Games 9 highlights:
—Cleveland is opening its new convention center this summer, and it will play host to volleyball and badminton, plus festival village will be on the renovated mall just outside.
—Swimmers and divers will compete in the same natatorium where Greg Louganis and the U.S. Olympic swim and dive teams trained for the Olympics in 1980 and 1984.
—Sailing participants will be competing in new boats built specially for the Gay Games by Tartan Yachts, which will auction the boats post-Games for charity.
—After the 2014 Games, the Cleveland Foundation will create an LGBT field-of-interest fund to support LGBT-related projects, programs and organizations. (Other field-of-interest funds cover broad topics such as education, economy, health care, etc.
Smitherman has played in the annual Coady Roundball Classic annually since 1998, missing only one. He also has played tennis, beach volleyball and indoor volleyball through the Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association.
His sporting highlight came when he played in his first Gay Games in Amsterdam, "that two important parts of my life, sports and being gay, had finally come together," he said.
Smitherman also has participated in the Games in Sydney, Chicago and Cologne. His basketball team, SOS, won the silver medal in the Men's B Division in Cologne, his first Games medal.
"I will be pretty busy working in Cleveland, but I hope I can play a few games with my team," he said. "I have had so many [memorable] Gay Games moments, but when you work for an event it becomes really special. I was honored to be able to represent the Chicago Gay Games at Wrigley Field when we passed the Gay Games flag to representatives from Cologne, and again in Cologne when we passed the flag to Cleveland/Akron. Those memories are really special."
Smitherman moved to Chicago from Virginia in 2006, and then moved to Cleveland to work for the 2014 Games in 2012. He lived in Chicago for about six years.
