J S L 2 J L MAY 21. 2010
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SPORTS
DIG This!
28th Annual NAGVA
Championships in
Portland combine
competition and
culture
B y RYAN J. PR A D O
When the announcement hit the wire
in summer 2009 that Portland would play
host to one of the nations largest gay sports
championships, eager players and spectators
alike could almost hear the squeaks of sneak
ers. Anticipation mounted for the set-ups,
the cross-court spikes, the aural “thwap!” of
congratulatory high fives. This Memorial Day
weekend, the arrival o f the North American
Gay Volleyball Associations 28th Annual
National Championships will make those
dreams a reality.
Portland Gay Volleyball organizer and
NAGVA Championship organizer Sean
Walker has seen and heard the excitement
swelling from tournament players, as well as
from Portland’s LGBTQcommunity at large.
And not just because the tournament—held
at the Oregon Convention Center—will
feature 118 teams from across the nation,
Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico; or because
there will be 24 courts in action simultane
ously for bracket position; or even because
this is the first time in nearly 10 years that
the championships have been stationed on
the West Coast.
The community is excited about all that,
too. But what the Portland NAGVA tourna
ment has that no other past championships
have is a consortium o f off-court events to
supplement all that on-court competition—
some o f it behind-the-scenes, but most o f it
open to the public.
“This is one o f the first tournaments that
we’ve had where we’ve had these type o f events
for the players,” explains Walker. “In the past,
there really haven’t been a lot o f events going
on geared toward the players. It was just based
on playing at the facility and then kind o f go-
\
V
,
I I
A
P ortlan d G ay V olleyb a ll is w e lc o m in g
the North A m e rica n G a y V olleyball
Association s 28th A n n u a l N ational
C h a m p io n s h ip s this M em o ria l Day
w e e k e n d The to u rn a m e n t will d ra w 118
teams from across the nation, C a n a d a
Puerto Rico a n d M exico
‘We usually don't have
that many local spectators,
but it seems like we may
have more people coming
out from the [Portland]
community. ... That’s going
to be something new and
different for us."
- NAGVA VICE PRESIDENT
ROB WARREN
ing and doing your own thing at different bars
or wherever you wanted to go. Instead, we’ve
provided quite a few outlets for players to en
joy themselves and meet other players.”
NAGVA Vice President Rob Warren ac
knowledges the unique approach to commu
nity building that Portland organizers have
taken with the championships, and hopes it
will translate into more attendance during the
actual tourney play.
“We usually don’t have that many local
spectators, but it seems like we may have
more people coming out from the [Portland]
community who aren’t involved in NAGVA,
and who maybe have never seen a volleyball
tournament,” says Warren. “That’s going to be
something new and different for us.”
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