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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 2001)
October 5 .2ÛÛ1 » 35 SPORTS I IU JfU U like lo spike? More gay volleyballers wanted for growing group by R E S T A U R A N T ^ 2000 NE 40th R ic h a r d B ray & 8 A R (2 blcks. N o rth o f Sandy) 503-460-2682 Private p a rtie s dt ca terin g available Who says white men can’t jump? f e homos sure like our sports. In defi ance of limp-wristed stereotypes, gay athletes get together for softball, ten nis, running, skiing and bowling. So it should come as no surprise that an organization exists for gay volleyball. The North American Gay Volleyball Asso ciation is composed of 10 regions located across the continent. West Coast players will be in town Oct. 6 and 7 for the Portland Fall Ball tournament at Tualatin Hills Recreation Cen ter, 50 N.W. 158th Ave. in Beaverton. Between 25 and 30 teams will travel here from as far away as Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia. Each of these cities has multiple teams that play in various tournaments throughout the region. Portland will have six teams competing. Volleyball essentially has four levels of com petition: A A , A, BB and B. The Northwest, which has a smaller population base, only uses the bottom three divisions. According to tournament director Ryan Reilly, an active, enthusiastic member of Port land Team Volleyball, the competition can be fierce, especially in upper-level play. However, the emphasis is mostly on having a good time with lots of socializing. Although the teams are open to everyone, Reilly notes that only guys have shown up to play in Portland and “that 99 percent of all N A G V A players are men.” He hopes this tour nament will generate more local interest in the sport. Portland Team Volleyball has existed for about 10 years but still has organizational mat ters to deal with: It plans to register as a non profit entity, establish a Web site and more actively recruit new players. A t this point get ting hooked up with the guys is mostly a word- of-mouth thing, Reilly acknowledges, but they also can be reached via the Internet. The team plays every Sunday afternoon in Northwest Portland on a drop-in basis. Although the number of participants fluctu ates, “We usually have from 25 to 30 people on two courts,” Reilly reports. It’s too late to sign up for the tournament if you’re not on a team already, but spectators are greatly appreciated. Play begins at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 6 and continues until about 4:30 p.m. Teams are divided into their division levels in round robin pool play, then seeded for the next day’s final competition based on win/loss records. On Oct. 7 play will be a double elimi nation tournament running from 8:30 a.m. until about 4:30 p.m. Saturday evening players will get together for a banquet at Fez Ballroom. Those with excellent stamina most likely will be out and about on the town later that night. Reilly predicts quite a few fellows will stay over Sunday night, too, so they can party some more. He says this isn’t like bowling where you can sit around drinking beer during a tourna ment. These guys are here to play ball! Still, he adds, “It’s a good way to get to know people from other cities and make friends.” He just laughs when asked if there was ever any “geographically undesirable romance,” so we’ll take that as a yes. Reilly wants to make sure his group doesn’t sound too serious. In fact, he reveals, “A t the Seattle tournament last June, two teams played their first game in drag.” J H P ortland T eam V olleyball plays from I to 4 p.m. Sundays at Hillside Community Center, 653 N.W. Culpepper Terrace. Learn more from UAVu>.na&>a.org or pordand_fall_balI@hotmail.com. R ichard B ray is a somewhat short free-lance writer who always wondered why they put the net so damn high. He can be reached at richbray2000@hotmai.com. / formerly Ahnneda Tiixt’Jo Deborrah Drorbaugh • owner 4512 NE Sandy Blvd. • Portland, OR 97213 you fa n eed te n d (¡lo w e r *! a l ^ ÿ f ù ir TUXEÖ0 OP 0 ® 16 -He* oil h e reo*on f o r m 503.287.2824 w ww.aform alaffairtuxedo.com \< r '¿7 IK 1 1 ffr| I 1 'f 1 Us.) > Open 4 Or Ori Joy4 a week BROADWAY FLORAL HOME and GARDEN 1638 NE Broadway • 503 . 288.5537 •< X ' \\ ^ . s. h , ' I : U . f ’ É 1 ) / '< í .< / / / ' Sushi Present this ad for a coin pi i menta ry Sushi Roll o f your choice at the Drayonfish Asian Café. Offer vaild any day o f the week. DrasonfisH a S i a n cafe In the Paramount Hotel 909 SW PARK AVENUE • 503.243.5981 Members of Portland Team Volleyball get hot and sweaty every Sunday X. r
