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After five goals are scored on a team, the winning
ladies must remove one article of clothing for every
additional point scored.
Is this a soccer festival or a radical party for queer women?
by Maria Callahan
ith sidelines packed with rowdy, sunburned spec lesbians. More specifically, it is for lesbians or any woman who is eager
tators, 14 sweat-soaked women rally for the final
to be actively mistaken for one. Inspired by the 1990 Gay Games in
plays under the midday September sun. Whcxrps Vancouver, British Columbia, Festival of the Babes (FOB for short),
and hollers emanate from the now tipsy-to-total-
was birthed by a small group of dedicated soccer dykes, working
ly-crunked fans as a midfielder of the defending
tirelessly to kick off an event focusing not only on soccer but also on
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team hooks the ball from an oncoming forward, sprints
through a hole
community
building. The first FOB hosted eight teams on two mod
left by the advancing defenders and takes a straight shot at the goal.
est fields, establishing the framework for a tradition that, almost two
For a split second, it seems the tie may be broken until the keeper decades later, is still building momentum.
spots the oncoming ball and hurls herself in its general direction.
Millie Supple, one of the founding mothers of FOB, describes the
Cheers erupt from down the field as the goalie snags the ball and
growth of the event: “With little more than word of mouth, it grew
clears it with a thud. The score is frozen, 5-5.
year by year into what it is now: almost a Halloween, Gay Pride,
While seemingly similar to any run-of-the-mill Sunday aftemwn
Burning Woman, soccer event that now turns teams away.”
soccer game, this is not your common club side scrimmage. The quick
Indeed, the growth has been remarkable. FOB now caps its entry
footed midfielder is a high femme from San Francisco sporting gold,
jewel-encrusted cleats and matching lamé hot pants. The goalie?
A Canadian bulldyke who happens to be dressed as Captain Jack from
Pirates of the Cxmbbean. The crowd? All lesbians. Or close approxima
tions thereof. And how is this arduous battle concluded? With a rous
ing game of Spin the Bottle, special smooches reserved for the ref.
For every one of us who lingered a little longer than normal in
team showers, or found being tackled by a teammate surprisingly
stimulating, this type of athletic endeavor is nothing short of a dream
come true. For the past 16 years, this has been the case for the droves
of women who attend the annual Festival of the Babes.
Having found its roots in San Francisco during the summer of
—Alexa Wilkie
1991, Festival of rhe Babes is a seven-a-side soccer tournament for
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homophobia in sports
and creating an environment
for a soccer tournament
in which lesbians could be
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at 24 teams and hosts two solid days of soccer played by approximate
ly 300 women on four fields. With such growing enthusiasm, why cap
the event at 24 teams? Jane White, an FOB enthusiast of many years,
explains that the organizers “made a conscious decision to keep it
smaller and more intimate,” even though this means occasionally
turning teams away.
Festival of the Babes differs in many ways from traditional soccer
tournaments in both theory and practice. However, as many veteran
FOB women will attest, a love of the game remains integral to the
spirit of the event. Rather than maintaining an unrelenting empha
sis on competition, FOB is a place for athletes of all skill levels and
experience. For those women who do enjoy a healthy dose of
competition, the tournament is divided into Competitive, Semi-
Competitive and Recreational divisions. For those who, perhaps, are
more interested in the assemblage of a flawless outfit and slide
tackling that devastatingly dapper defender, the recreational division
might be the best option.
Through the years, FOB has developed some innovative idiosyn
crasies that really do set it in a league of its own. Initially instated to
prevent one team from running up the score against another team,
a rule was laid out deeming that after five goals were scored on a team,
one article of clothing must be removed by each player on the
winning team for every additional goal scored against the losing team.
Needless to say, the threat of public nudity in a sea full of dykes
playing a contact sport did not elicit the planned inhibitory effect.
Longtime FOBer Julie Johnson fondly recalls the first time this new
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