IGLGU 1st face to face gathering
IGLGU had its 1st face to face gathering on 2001 Mar 10 Sat at
Santa Barbara California. We met on Goleta beach, later had dinner and watched the Gold Cup Challenge meet at the university.
Brunch the next morning completed the weekend.
While turnout was less than hoped for, plans are in the works to make this an annual event. It was great to actually meet people
known only from cyberspace.
IGLGU will have a presence at FGG 2001 Annual Conference Johannesberg South Africa (2001 Oct)
Details on how you can join the IGLGU contingent will be posted to IGLGU Datebook
early July 2001.
Hopefully we can get a dozen IGLGU people in IGLGU shirts this time to show that we are serious!
NAGLG 2004 sports set
The sports have been chosen for the 2004 NAGLG. Gymnastics is not a chosen sport because IGLGU is not deemed a large enough organization to make the sport "worthwhile". It has been hinted that if IGLGU grows enough before 2002, a gymnastics demonstration might be added.
IGLGU at FGG Annual Conference 2000 Sydney Australia
Many things happened at the FGG AGM in Sydney 2000.
At long last, the 19 year old lawsuit between FGG & USOC is over. The FGG has agreed not to use the word olympic, only 2 or 3 linked rings in the logo, and the logo must be either black or reflex blue.
A taskforce to explore having a Winter Gay Games has been formed. A winter games would happen between the summer games. 2008 is the earliest possible year and there may not yet be time to prepare for that, which would push Winter Gaymes out to 2012.
Hockey & skating would move to the Winter Gaymes, freeing up 2 spots in the FGG core sports section.
The number of core sports was reduced by 2 slots when aquatics folded swimming, diving & water polo into 1 sport. No free spots were created in this move, just a merging of their "red book" entries. (FGG Red Book also known as Sports policy manual)
Bidding organizations of Montreal, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles-1 & Los Angeles-2
(2 separate bid teams from LA) are bidding on the 2006 GG.
The bid will be awarded 2001 Oct at the meeting in Johannesberg SA.
All bidding organizations except Montreal are interested in gymnastics.
There is concern over the lack of women in IGLGU and this could prove to be a "show stopper" for us.
Since gymnastics does not yet have an entry in the FGG Sports procedures manual (red book), we cannot be a regular sport even if included in 2006. We would have to be a demonstration.
Bill Wassmer was re-elected as Co-President FGG, with a 2 year term. Sue Emerson's 2 year term will be up for re-election next year.
Wednesday, we spent at the Olympic Park. The facility is in the process of "bump out" which means cleaning up after olympics and setting up for its permanent future use. While we were there, 2 entire bridges were demolished & removed.
While gymnastics is not a GG sport, we still passed through the state gymnastics facility. It was interesting to see it under re construction.
The gymnastics facility was used for table tennis with a false floor and the gymnastics aparatus moved to a larger venue. When we arrived, the false floor had been removed and the gymnastics aparatus was in the process of being reinstalled. The vault pits were empty, awaiting some 10,000 blocks of foam each.
The issue of ageism came up and gymnastics was applauded for being one of the 1st sports to have a 50+ bracket.
The issue of IGLGU joining the federation as a voting member came up. IGLGU needs to create a "red book" entry and set up bylaws & officers.
IGLGU invited to participate in Los Angeles, 2006
The team bidding to bring Gay Games to Los Angeles California recently inquired whether IGLGU would be interested in being included as an optional sport if LA gets the 2006 bid.
Gymnastics has been offered and then eliminated before, but there is a slight chance that gymnastics could be included in GG-2006. Meanwhile, work continues toward an annual event for IGLGU.
IGLGU invited to participate in Montreal, 2004
Besides the Gay Games, there is a european sports gathering, Eurogames, for european Gay & Lesbian athletes. Organizers in Montreal, Canada have begun organization of the North American Gay & Lesbian Games, with a target of 2004 being the first NAGLG.
After that, NAGLG will become a regular event floating to different cities within the Americas. IGLGU has been contacted about participation. Please "stay tuned..."
IGLGU will have a presence at FGG annual conference 2002 Sydney Austrailia (Nov 2000)
Details on how you can join the IGLGU contingent will be posted summer 2000.
IGLGU at FGG annual conference 1999 Berlin
Texx Woodworth attended and joined the Site Selection comittee to
assist with facilities and technology issues associated with site selection. Texx continues work on Technology Taskforce, Sports & Outreach committees.
During the week, there was a presentation made by Sydney 2002 to Team Berlin. Texx attended the presentation hoping to find gymnasts among Team Berlin. During the question & answer period (conducted through translators) the question of gymnastics arose.
The stock reply came out from Sydney 2002 about there not being enough gymnasts to add the sport. Texx noted that there were yet more gymnasts that no one knew about. During the reception after the presentation, Texx had a conversation with the leader of Team Berlin Gymnastics. IGLGU awaits email from Team Berlin for further contact.
Additional confusion surrounding the 2002 games is the promotional information for the games. The advertising firm aquired stock sports footage from the Australian govt film archives showing gymnastics even though gymnastics is not included in the 2002 GG.
One of the more disapointing issues for IGLGU has been the reluctance of the the FGG to add additional sports. The host cities are struggling to deal with 31 sports. Presure to have additional sports as "demo sports" has allowed more sports, but the host cities complain that this is just another way to add more sports than they can handle. The demo spots won in Seattle were scrapped. This might ease the pain of losing out in Seattle for IGLGU.
IGLGU is planning its 1st gymnastics meet
Faced with the realization that gymnastics can not become a FGG core sport until it can hold a few meets and generate some attendance data, IGLGU must hold some gymnastics meets.
There has been interest by an established gay sports festival (SPORTFEST) in having IGLGU hold their annual meets at their festival. Logistics & financial guarantees remain to be worked out, as well as locating qualified judging staff. Present target date is autumn 2001, Florida USA where it will still be warm that time of year. More info to be published here as it happens.
IGLGU needs a logo
IGLGU presently has no graphic logo. Please submit possible logo designs to IGLGU. It is hoped that shirts can be printed with an IGLGU logo for attendees to IGLGU events.
Gymnastics related but not gay games related
US: NCAA mens gymnastics losing more university mens gymnastics teams.
NEWS FLASH:
Berkely has won a short term reprieve. Berkeley must create an endowment fund for the university to continue the team. The fund drive has begun.
University of California, Berkeley has been a "powerhouse" of mens gymnastics in the us since the late 1920's. There are at most 2 dozen remaining US University mens gymnastics teams.
FGG midyear conference in Montreal Canada, April 1999
During the Montreal meeting several issues came up, including the departure of the paid Executive Director of the FGG, the departure of the chairman of the Tech Taskforce and the FGG Exec Board's mass resignation. An acting executive board was installed to carry the FGG into Berlin in autumn 1999 for the regular annual meeting. Gene Dermody from wrestling became acting president of the FGG. Gene has been part of GG wrestling since the 1st games in 1982.
There has always been a bond between wrestlers and gymnasts. This bond has carried into the FGG, where the wrestlers have been very supportive of the formation of IGLGU.
The departure of the Tech Taskforce chairman caused somewhat of an emergency a short time before Montreal, and Gene was tapped to take over Tech, being in the technology industry already. IGLGU is slowly working its way into the very centre of the FGG infrastructure, a place where valuable contacts can be made.
IGLGU at FGG annual conference 1998 Seattle
Previous attempts to lobby Gay Games for gymnastics inclusion in 1990, 1994 & 1998 have been fruitless. Directors of the FGG, (Federation Gay Games) highly suggested new tactics and
IGLGU attendence at FGG meetings.
IGLGU Founding Director Texx Woodworth attended the Seattle FGG 1998 meeting. While there, Texx joined Sports & Outreach comittees as well as the Technology Taskforce.
IGLGU lobbied for "demo sport status" of gymnastics with Sydney 2002. Competition for 8 slots was fierce. Much larger sports won out. IGLGU was unable to answer how many athletes could it guarantee, and how many spectators would likely come since IGLGU had never held a competition on its own. This sent IGLGU back to the proverbial "drawing board".
IGLGU now has its own website. Inaugurated 1999 Dec 1.
If you have comments or suggestions, email me at texx@delong.org
