Pictured Soccer photo by Jim Provenzano.
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Hundreds of gay and lesbian soccer players will converge on Golden Gate Park's Polo Fields as the San Francisco Spikes host the annual International Gay & Lesbian Football Association (IGLFA) World Cup Aug. 2-7.
While most competitors will be on American teams, some are trekking from as far as Japan to play soccer at the annual finals of GLBT soccer. Almost 500 players from the San Francisco Bay Area and international community are expected to compete, with hundreds more volunteering at the matches.
The first organized gay soccer team started in New York City in 1980, and is still competing. Named after the notoriously cruisy Ramble section of Central Park, the Ramblers, unlike their namesake, actually play in the open.
As more gay soccer clubs began forming, in 1992 the original members of these first clubs organized IGLFA, which today includes 20 women's teams and 30 men's teams.
The Ramblers continue that tradition, having won third place at last year's rainy—and muddy —Boston World Cup. Their men's B team also took the bronze at Sydney's Gay Games VI.
Alex Andres has been a goal tender with the Ramblers since 2001. Seeing the Ramblers march in New York City's Gay Pride parade inspired Andres to return to soccer, which he had played as a teenager in Argentina.
Andres says he enjoys the high-pressure position of goalie. 'Not everybody can play that position. You can make or break the game,' he says. 'One mistake can cost you what everyone's doing. But a few well-placed saves can really help the team. We also usually take the worst injuries, but it's part of the game.'
Andres says the Ramblers will be sending two teams to this year's IGLFA World Cup, almost 30 players in all. As any New Yorker can tell you, the Big Apple is an international city. Says Andres, 'Our roster includes players from over a dozen different nations.'
Although the San Francisco location almost ensures good weather, Andres says that 'the rain and mud were the fun part' of last year's tournament.
A World Cup Host Committee member and a six-year Spikes player, Patrick Johnson is looking forward to welcoming athletes from Canada, Australia, and across the United States.
Johnston started playing soccer at age seven. With 25 years of experience, he says that many adult players may not be as competitive as he is, and are simply 'looking for exercise, to be on a team sport, and to make friends.'
The Spikes themselves have a regal history of victories at previous gay soccer events, including three gold medals at the Atlanta Armory tournament, and two bronzes and a silver from previous IGLFA World Cups.
The Spikes have been holding benefits over the past several months, including the annual Miss Spikes Universe pageant, held two weeks before the tournament. Johnston calls it 'a drag show where members of the Spikes pull out their alter egos.'
No telling whether drag kings might attend as well, but women's teams from the Bay Area include players from the Golden Gate Women's Soccer League.
Karen Opp, who's helped bring together three women's teams in San Francisco, notes the increase in women's participation, from four teams last year to seven this year. Even so, 'It's really tough to keep women's teams together for these traveling tournaments,' she added.
Previous IGLFA World Cups have mostly been held in U.S. cities, with the exception of Berlin and Cologne. The dearth of European teams this year may be due to the Eurogames, to be held in Munich July 24-Aug. 1; hundreds of soccer players will be among the more than 8,000 participants.
Not that there hasn't been enough outreach from the World Cup organizers; the Cup's Web site offers contact email addresses in nine languages.
Riki Inamura of Kyoto is one of nine Japanese players flying in for the tournament, including six from Tokyo and two from Osaka. He says sports in Japan have expanded in the queer communities in Kyoto and Tokyo.
'Getting sports groups together is getting easier, but it took me so long to organize the team,' he says. 'I needed to combine three gay soccer teams (all the gay soccer teams that I know in Japan).'
When asked if being gay has had an effect on his playing, Inamura says, 'I started enjoying soccer long before I started enjoying sleeping with guys!'
Inamura also enjoys the universal camaraderie of soccer. 'I do not need to be tall or big, and I make many friends wherever I travel, just going to parks, and asking if I can join in,' he says. 'Now I can do this with gay guys, too.'
Even though there are a few Japanese sports groups, Inamura still had to hustle to get a Japanese team together.
'I hope that we can bring a soccer team to Chicago [for Gay Games VII], but I am not sure where I will be then,' Inamura adds. 'So I wish everyone going from Japan to San Francisco to fully enjoy themselves!'
www.sf2004.org, www.sfspikes.com, www.nyramblers.com
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