Nick Clark, 25, is the assistant men’s and women’s volleyball coach at Pfeiffer University in Misenheimer, N.C. By Nick Clark I am just a little past the midway point of my first season as an “out” coach. It has been largely gratifying with few hiccups. I was hired by Pfeiffer University in May 2011, a [...]
Posts under ‘Volleyball’
Dad on teen athlete’s son’s coming out: ‘A liberation for all of us’
Editor’s note: A month ago, we ran the first-person coming out story by high school volleyball player Galen Dodd. His father, Ian, wrote us a week later and then gave us permission to reprint his letter. We seldom hear from parents about how their child’s coming out affected them and thought Ian Dodd’s letter would [...]
Coming out is liberating for 15-year-old high school volleyball player Galen Dodd
Editor’s note: At 15, Los Angeles volleyball player Galen Dodd is likely the youngest athlete who has ever told his coming out story for Outsports. He contacted us and had the full backing of his parents, who helped him edit the story. By Galen Dodd Three dates will forever be ingrained in my mind: July [...]
Outsports It Gets Better: Mari Burningham, college volleyball coach
The latest video in Outsports’ partnership with the It Gets Better Project comes from Mari Burningham, head volleyball coach at the University of Redlands in Southern California. Burningham became known to Outsports readers after she wrote a powerful story about being a Mormon lesbian at BYU. In her video, Burningham details how things have gotten [...]
Moment #34: Canadian volleyball coach Betty Baxter fired amidst rumors she is a lesbian
Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history. Volleyball, 1982. Betty Baxter was a successful Canadian volleyball player and coach. After being named the head coach of the women’s national volleyball team in 1979, she won the Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union’s coach of the year award. Yet in 1982, amid [...]
Moment #67: Homophobic taunts at volleyball match shock Brazilians
Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history. Volleyball, 2011: Michael, a professional volleyball player in Brazil, took the court at an opponent’s gym this spring for a playoff match and was taunted all game by 3,000 fans chanting “bicha,” or faggot. Fed up with the abuse, Michael disclosed [...]
Gay volleyball coach tells his coming out story
Nick Clark is the assistant men’s volleyball coach at Siena Heights University in Michigan. I wrote a profile about his journey from a closeted young man who tried his best to fit in to his flirtations with religion to his acceptance of who he is. In talking to Nick, I found the religious angle fascinating [...]
Brazilian volleyball club fined $30,000 for homophobic taunts at opposing player
The Brazilian volleyball team Sada Cruzeiro was fined $30,000 after 3,000 of its fans chanted “bicha” (faggot) at Michael, a gay player for Volei Futuro, during an April 2 playoff match. The story became huge news in Brazil after the crowd’s action, which led Michael to come out publicly. In the second game of the [...]
Fans, players deck out in pink to show support for openly gay Brazilian volleyball player
Last week we told you about the awful incident where 3,000 fans at a Brazilian pro volleyball playoff match taunted a gay player, Michael, with “faggot,” which caused him to come out publicly after the match. On Saturday, Michael’s team, Volei Futuro, played host to Sada Cruzeiro in Game 2 of their best-of-three series and [...]
Video: 3,000 Brazilian fans taunt pro gay volleyball player with chants of “faggot”
About 3,000 fans at a pro volleyball match in Brazil taunted one player repeatedly with chants of “bicha,” which in Brazilian Portuguese is roughly the equivalent of “faggot” (see video below). The player, Michael (Brazilians refer to their athletes by their first name or nickname), came out publicly after the match as gay and said [...]
Penn State volleyball coach is gay-positive
Penn State women’s volleyball coach Russ Rose was recently profiled by ESPN.com. And out of the blue he talked about his welcoming position on gay players. I’m different than a lot of other people. I’m not judgmental in any way on anything. People might avoid kids that don’t look like they play well with others [...]
Hot Jocks: Daniel Dalanhese, Bryan Stewart
Thanks to our friend and awesome photographer Brent for these shots of the pro beach volleyball duo of Daniel Dalanhese and Bryan Stewart. These were taken at the recent Huntington Beach event. Share on Facebook
Gay volleyball championships this weekend
The North American Gay Volleyball Association championships kicked off today in Portland, Ore. For those of you who complain about playing your sports leagues and tournaments in the morning, this one kicked off at 8am. One of the cool things about the tournament is that Adidas is an official sponsor (their D1 ball is the [...]
This is sportsmanship
Now this is what sportsmanship is all about. Our contest to find the top gay-sports group concluded Tuesday night with the Muffin Tops Softball Team from Seattle barely edging out the Milwaukee Gay Volleyball Association. The former was gracious in victory, and the latter was incredibly gracious in defeat. Through the whole process, I was [...]
Shaq vs. a pink speedo
For those of you who thought Terrell Owens’ TV show was unwatchable, don’t waste a moment on ABC’s Shaq Vs (which, some claim, he stole from Steve Nash…Nash is listed as an exec producer on the show). The biggest problem with the show? Shaq himself. His monotone speech is enough to put you to sleep, [...]