12/08: December 2008
EGLSF Newsletter: News & Information from European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation
Internal Affairs & International Cooperation Evaluation The time for 2008 is running out! If you have made some resolutions last year and have not carried them out, there is still some time left. We often do some sort of evaluation in the days before the New Year starts. In this issue of the EGLSF Newsletter you can read a part of our evaluation. But even more importantly, the Board of EGLSF wishes you and your clubs Happy Holidas and all the best in the upcoming year!
Contents INTERNAL AFFAIRS & INTL. COOPERATION MEMBERS’ CORNER NEWS SECTION SPORTS EVENTS COMING UP...
Year in review We are briefing you on some of our most important and visible activities of 2008:
Annual General Assembly Rome 2008 EGLSF held its Annual General Assembly (AGA) in Rome, Italy, (Feb 28-Mar 2, 2008). Prior to AGA, and following the mandate by AGA 2007, a Gender Equality Workshop took place. It is to be highlighted that Women Participation was the highest so far at AGAs.
“Is life not a hundred times too short for us to stifle ourselves?” Friedrich Nietzsche German philosopher and philologist
At the AGA, several workshops on sports were also held, giving us important input for the future activities and also to the future organisers of the EuroGames. EGLSF Board, on behalf of all our members, wishes to thank the generous
hospitality offered by our Roman hosts (Agensport Lazio, Gruppo Pesce Roma, with Arcigay Sport and other Roman clubs).
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EGLSF Newsletter: News & Information from European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation
EGLSF Board At the Rome AGA, two of the three EGLSF Board posts open to election were covered: Female Co-President: Anne Jensen (Denmark) and Board Member: Gisela Weil (Germany); both were reelected. Board member Alia Katsika (Greece) had resigned previously and the post remained vacant. The other Board members currently are: Male Co-President: Pepe García Vázquez (Spain/Belgium); General Secretary: Lou Manders (The Netherlands); Treasurer: Juha Meronen (Finland); Board Members at Large: Gabriella Körmendi (Hungary) and Andrej Pisl (Slovenia).
2008 Barcelona EuroGames From 24th to 27th July 2008, Barcelona hosted the 12th EuroGames, in its big format, where more than 5,000 athletes, coming from 40 countries, participated. The enthusiastic commitment of the Barcelona team and the official support made the games a big success in a warm and festive atmosphere. The content of the motto “Come South, Play with Us” became a reality. Prior to the Games, a Conference was held and drafted a “Declaration of Barcelona” that was handed to EGLSF Board who presented it to Barcelona City Council and Catalan Government representatives.
Advocacy EGLSF continued its advocacy work during 2008. The following items should be highlighted: - Declaration of Barcelona. - The following-up of contacts with the European Commission within the framework of the “White Paper” on sport. - The prize obtained by Tanja WaltherAhrens, EGLSF representative, together
with Theo Zwanziger, President of the German Football Federation, for the their actions in the fight against homophobia. EGLSF also pursued its cooperation with FARE, ILGA-Europe, European Commission and Council of Europe.
Outreach EGLSF’s Regional Outreach activities during 2008 focused on contributing to outreach participation at Barcelona EuroGames. A new diversity plafrorm is being developed for this field.
EGLSF Board has received bid books for EuroGames 2011 by Rotterdam and EuroGames 2012 by Budapest. These two cities are working together in a clear innovation for organizing EuroGames.
Annual General Assembly The Hague 2009 From 5th to 8th March 2009, EGLSF will hold its next Annual General Assembly (AGA 2009), Homosport Nederland acting as host. It will be the 20th Anniversary AGA. You will find full information about it, at EGLSF web page (www.eglsf.info).
“Building Bridges 3” Conference
Next EuroGames Due to the celebration of LGBT global sport events in 2009 and 2010 in Europe (Copenhagen Outgames and Cologne Gay Games, respectively), there will be not EuroGames the next two years. We encourage you to participate in these to events; EGLSF is, as active partner, cooperating with both organising teams. EGLSF Board proposed to the members an online referendum on changing the order of big/small EuroGames and to hold the vote for both 2011 and 2012 at AGA 2009. Both proposals were approved.
Just prior to AGA, this conference will take place organised by EGLSF and Homosport Nederland. Participation of several institutions representatives (Olympic Committees, Dutch Sport Federations, European Commission, UEFA, Council of Europe, etc…) is expected. We urge and advice you to actively participate.
20th Anniversary Celebration After the mentioned conference, we will commemorate the 20th Anniversary of EGLSF. More details online.
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EGLSF Newsletter: News & Information from European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation
Elections
AGA 2010 host candidates
The mandate of four male Board members and one female Board members ends in March 2009. Adding to them the now vacant one, the posts to be covered are the following: - Male Co-President - General Secretary - Treasurer - 3 Board Members at Large
If some clubs have already the intention of running for being the 2010 AGA host, it would be advisable to make their intentions known as soon as possible. In this sense, a small presentation report should be sent to EGLSF General Secretary (lou@eglsf.info) explaining the reasons for this candidacy, as well as information about venues and other practical issues. EGLSF General Secretary will forward this information to all EGLSF members.
According to article 11.4 of EGLSF bylaws, gender equality must be assured at EGLSF Board level. In order to facilitate the task of AGA delegates concerning elections, we advise potential candidates to send to EGLSF General Secretary (lou@eglsf.info) a brief note prior to the AGA. The letter should indicate which position you are running for, including a brief curriculum and presentation, in total one (1) A4 sheet. The General Secretary will forward this message to all EGLSF members. According to EGLSF bylaws (article 11.7.2), candidates should have been members of an EGLSF member club for at least one year. Members clubs are asked to check among their own members for qualified candidates and, if they wish so, to nominate them for the vacant positions. We consider it fair, and out of transparency, to inform all of you that the current Board members whose mandates expire will run for re-election to their current respective Board positions.
AGA Draft Agenda At EGLSF website, you can find the AGA draft agenda. You are invited to make comments and suggestions that the Board will duly evaluate and take into consideration. The board also welcomes suggestions for workshops - deadline being January 9, 2009.
Invitations EGLSF board has invited our members, FGG and GLISA, prominent individuals and the following 12 LGBT sport associations to participate in our anniversary and annual general assembly in 2009: ESSDA - European Same Sex Dance Association GHI - International Gay And Lesbian Ice Hockey Association GLTA - Gay and Lesbian Tennis Alliance GLORY - Gay and Lesbian Organisation for Racing and Yachting GLRF - Gay and Lesbian Rowing Federation IAGLMA - International Association of Gay and Lesbian Martial Artists IGBO - International Gay And Lesbian Bowling Organization IGLA - International Gay And Lesbian Aquatics Association IGLFA - International Gay And Lesbian Football Association IGLFHF - International Gay and Lesbian Field Hockey Federation IGRA - International Gay Rugby Association International Front Runners We hope that representatives from the sport associations will be present in The Hague, since we find it important to strengthen the relation between EGLSF and LGBT sport associations, and also
with respect to future EuroGames and other tournaments organized by our member clubs.
Registration Registration for the conference and the AGA will be open end of December 2008 at www.eglsf.info. In regards to outreach and AGA, we strongly encourage our member clubs to support the participation of delegates from outreach clubs. You may do this in two ways: A. Directly support delegates from outreach clubs. B. Donate an amount to EGLSF.
2009 Membership Form and Fee The 2009 Membership Form is available at www.eglsf.info/membership-form.php. It will also be sent to all EGLSF members. Please, fill it in, providing all the required information, as indicated in the form. Please do not forget to fill the section on Sports offered, with number of men and women in every sport. This information is needed for statistical backgrounds (perhaps some people do more one sport, so it may be that the total number of members will be lower than the total per sports). The number of members determines the fee each club has to pay as EGLSF membership fee for 2009; the table is enclosed in the membership form. No additional invoice will be sent unless specifically requested. Payment instructions are also enclosed in the form. Please use the IBAN number and SWIFT/ BIC codes in order to save costs. EGLSF has to receive the correct and full fee, without any bank transfer fees which are at each club expenses.
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EGLSF Newsletter: News & Information from European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation
Payment Membership fee for 2009 has to be paid by the 1st of February 2009. If the fee has not been paid by this date, voting rights during the Annual General Assembly will be decided case by case. EGLSF treasurer can monitor payments to the EGLSF account per date. In this sense, it will not be needed to present further proof of payment when registering for AGA. All members are urged to pay as soon as possible and respect the deadline date as a condition of full AGA participation.
Outreach Fee At 2006 Budapest AGA, a reduction of the membership fee for clubs from outreach countries was agreed on, taking into account the concerned country average income. EGLSF Board, after evaluating the available data, decided to adopt the most favourable approach to the clubs. Here are the countries and the percentage of the due fee to be paid by the clubs from these countries: Bulgaria (20%), FYR Macedonia (20%), Romania (20%), Russian Federation (30%), Turkey (30%), Croatia (50%), Hungary (60%). For any doubt or additional information, please contact EGLSF treasurer (juha@ eglsf.info) or general secretary (lou@ eglsf.info).
Board Meetings The EGLSF Board met in Ljubljana November 28-30, 2008. At the meeting, several items were discussed; focusing mainly on the upcoming conference and the AGA, EuroGames, and future plans. OIS - Out in Slovenija, the hosts of the meeting, met with EGLSF board members at joint dinner and at an open debate meeting. The board was also invited to the opening of the 24th Ljubljana Gay
and Lesbian Film Festival. The board wishes to thank Out in Slovenia for their hospitality. The board will next meet in Brussels, Belgium January 9-11, to finalise the arrangements for the AGA 2009. Please submit all comments and requests for the AGA by January 9, 2009.
This section is dedicated to a brief presentation of our members. If you would like to have your club introduced here, please contact Anne Jensen at anne@ eglsf.info.
Kraulquappen Vienna
Seasonal Greetings We all will celebrate our 20th anniversary in 2009 in The Hague. That is, of course, a reason for satisfaction, but mostly it is a reminder of all the challenges that expect us and that we hope to affront together within the perspective of an improved cooperation. The EGLSF Board wishes you all the best for the Year End festivities and wishes you a successful New Year!
Members’ Corner
Don’t worry about missing pool time when you travel to Vienna. Everyone is welcome to dive in and join our workouts. One of the advantages of swimming is that there’s room for a Speedo in even the smallest suitcase. Come meet the local swimmers and let us help you discover the city. Team Kraulquappen is a small group of queer masters swimmers founded in 2006 and has already made a name for itself as a great group of swimmers who enjoy participating in major events. Team Kraulquappen are Austrian Masters swimmers working to promote competition, friendship and understanding between mature athletes, regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, or athletic ability.
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EGLSF Newsletter: News & Information from European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation
presentations of our members, includes News section, and lists upcoming LGBT sports events in Europe and elsewhere. While our members receive the newsletter automatically, non-members and interested public and media may download the Newsletter and subscribe for this free service at http://www.eglsf. info/eglsf-newsletter.html. End of November, we have also decided to expand our reach of readers by publishing the newsletter also at the online media portal issuu. http://issuu.com/eglsf Our aim is to promote and encourage others to practice sports regularly and to participate in competitions with the awareness that competitive sports can be a part of and add positively to one’s life at all ages. It doesn’t matter if you’re gay, lesbian, straight, queer, or whatever! Our motivation to meet is to train together on a regular basis and have some fun in and out of the pool. We also like to join in on the fun of competitions all over Europe. In fact, that’s why the Kraulquappen came together as a team in the first place. Every other year the Kraulquappen will put on the “Vienna Valentine” alternating with the “Amsterdam Valentine”. In 2007 more than 150 participants from 10 European countries attended the tournament. In 2009 the competition will take place in Vienna on Valentines Day, February 14th. The events include 200 meter freestyle, breaststroke, and individual medley; 100 meter butterfly and backstroke, and 50 meter freestyle, breaststroke, butterfly, and backstroke. Visitors can watch the action from the bleachers. Following the meet, before the party, will be a dinner buffet in a traditional Austrian restaurant at the Stadtpark. And to round off the weekend, after swimming all day and dancing all night, the legendary
Sunday brunch at Cafè Willendorf will replenish even the most exhausted of Vienna’s Valentines! Vienna Valentine ‘09 promises an exciting weekend in a charming metropolis with new things to discover everywhere. Registration closes on January 25, 2009. http://www.kraulquappen.at
News Section
News submitted by our members
Sportsoutloud becomes Compete 12 December 2008 Sports Out Loud, the world’s only gay sports magazine, will re-launch as Compete, beginning with its January/ February 2009 issue. While in the process of choosing a new name, the publishers of Sports Out Loud were inspired by Billie Jean King who during an interview spoke of her toughest competitor - herself. The Compete name speaks to the common drive to overcome personal limitations in sports and in life. The publishers hope that the redone magazine will inspire athletes and nonathletes to succeed in conquering the challenges the face on and off the field world-wide. http://www.competemag.com
EGLSF on issuu 24 November 2008 EGLSF - European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation, publishes a free e-bulletin, the EGLSF Newsletter every month. The newsletter covers the activities of EGLSF and EuroGames, features short
Calendar Frenzy 21 December 2008 With the New Year approaching, so is the frenzy of calendars. While for the mainstream population, the pictures
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EGLSF Newsletter: News & Information from European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation
of (semi)naked women still seems to flourish, the gay market has been influenced by the so-called ‘straight’ male nude sports calendars. The calendars such as Dieux du Stade have gotten almost a symbolic status with the male gay population in Europe. Following their lead, some other examples of mainstreaming homo-eroticism have been made, like the Dolce&Gabbana with the calendar of Italian Rugby players. While all of those are pleasant - mostly to the gay eye, EGLSF would like to remind that several of our members also make gay and/or lesbian calendars which are not only beautiful to look at, but also support the activities of the clubs. So please check with your local club about the special calendars available. Enjoy the Holidays and Happy New Year!
Have a great Valentine. We welcome you to the 3rd Vienna Valentine, an international swim competition open to EVERYONE - regardless of nationality or sexual orientation. Vienna Valentine ‘09 promises an exciting weekend in a charming metropolis with new things to discover everywhere. Registration closes on January 25, 2009. Be part of it – register now. http://www.kraulquappen.at info@kraulquappen.at
Multisports
Events submitted by our members
http://www.samarucs.org infosamarucs@hotmail.com
Football/Soccer
Galibi Cup Prague, Czech Republic 6 Mar – 8 Mar 2009 lacocs@seznam.cz
Pan GaySki 2009 Alpe d’Huez, France 20 Feb – 1 Mar 2009
Sports Events Coming up...
Samarucs will host the third edition of Jocs Taronja from February, 27th until March, 1st, in València, including volleyball and swimming competitions. We hope you to come South again!
Next year in February Pan Idræt, Copenhagen, goes to Alpe d’Huez for a great ski holiday in the French snow. We plan to arrive February 21 and stay there for a week at hotel Eclose. The days will be spent in the snow, the evenings at bars and afterski. The nights might be spent at the disco or …? If you and your club are planning for a ski holiday next year, why don’t you come and join us? Pan Idræt has arranges ski trips for many years in Italy, several places I Austria and now France. This year we expect to be at least 40 people tumbling in the snow! http://www.panidraet.dk perhornrasmussen@mail.dk
Multisports
Out To Swim Competition 2009 London, United Kingdom 7 Mar – 7 Mar 2009
Out To Swim London will be hosting its annual competition on March 7, 2009. Disciplines will include: diving, swimming, synchronized swimming and waterpolo. Please check the OTS website for further details. http://www.outtoswim.org mikeguy01@gmail.com
Multisports Swimming
Vienna Valentine ‘09 Vienna, Austria 13 Feb – 15 Feb 2009
Multisports
3rd Jocs Taronja València, Spain 27 Feb – 1 Mar 2009
Wild Wild South 2009 Stuttgart, Germany 13 Mar – 15 Mar 2009 You are cordially invited to join our Wild Wild South Tournament 2009. We expect
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EGLSF Newsletter: News & Information from European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation
more than 400 participants form all over Europe for this multisports event. Apart from the sports competition, we will organise a big party event on Saturday night and a brunch on Sunday. Have a sports and fun weekend with us in the “wild south” of Germany!
seven disciplines: badminton, basketball, bowling, football, swimming, table tennis and volleyball. For further information just have a look at our site. http://www.duessel-cup.de answers@duessel-cup.de
Synchronized Swimming
Men’s Cup 3 Milan, Italy 9 Apr – 12 Apr 2009
European amateur Men’s Synchronized Swimming Tournament. Registration starts beginning of November 2008.
http://www.wildwildsouth.de info@wildwildsouth.de
Volleyball
Volleyball
Multisports
HOT Helsinki Badminton & Volleyball Tournament Helsinki, Finland 17 Apr – 19 Apr 2009
Feel the warm northern atmosphere and have a nice weekend in Helsinki, the Daughter of the Baltic Sea! We welcome you to participate in the 2nd HOT Helsinki Badminton & Volleyball Tournament. In badminton we have levels A, B and C in single and double. In volleyball we have one level (B). After the games on Saturday night we will party and on Sunday we continue with the brunch. We try to offer you free private accommodation. We are looking forward meeting you in Helsinki! http://www.hot.fi/index.php/Tournament info@hot.fi
Häschenturnier Hamburg, Germany 10 Apr – 13 Apr 2009
Löwen-Cup 2009
Multisports
PRAGUE RAINBOW SPRING 2009 Prague, Czech Republic 1 May – 3 May 2009
Braunschweig, Germany 20 Mar – 22 Mar 2009
18th Easter Tournament - International Gay & Lesbian Volleyball Tournament.
http://www.sls-bs.de volleyball@sls-bs.de
http://www.startschuss.org volleyball@startschuss.org
Multisports
Squash
Duessel-Cup
Easter Tournament 2009
8th Brescia Volley Spring Tournament
Duesseldorf, Germany 3 Apr – 5 Apr 2009
Amsterdam, the Netherlands 11 Apr – 12 Apr 2009
Brescia, Italy 1 May – 3 May 2009
Springtime in Duesseldorf: Welcome to our 3rd edition of the famous DuesselCup. We hope you will join us (once again) in competitions in the following
Rainbow Squash’s 11th international squash tournament will take place during Easter 2009. Two playing days. All levels welcome. http://www.rainbowsquash.com toernooi@rainbowsquash.com
http://www.pratety.cz pratety@seznam.cz
Multisports
EGLSF Newsletter: News & Information from European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation
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12/08: December 2008
For the 8th time in a row, Le Iene Volley is happy to invite all italian and european volleyball players to play with us in Brescia! We’ll welcome you in a genuine atmosphere and give you the chance to stay at a wonderful residence on the Garda Lake with very low fares! 20% discount on Inscription fee for OUTREACH COUNTRIES! Levels of play will be A, B+, B- and C. Check Milano (Orio) or Verona airports for low cost flights. Soon more infos on our website! Ciao! http://www.leienevolley.it info@leienevolley.it
Badminton
Queensday Tournament Delft, The Netherlands 1 May – 3 May 2009 The cutest tournament around; if you never been there.. come and find out. If you were... you already know:-) And for those who never experienced queensday in Holland, this is the perfect opportunity to make it a long weekend. Celebrate Queensday on the 30th of April in Amsterdam, get sober on the first of May and sweat out the calories on the 2nd of May. http://www.rozeblok.nl/orange badminton@rozeblok.nl Fotos: Page 1: Andrej Pisl Page 2: EuroGames Barcelona 2008 Page 5: Florian Dalik Others: Public, non-copyrighted
Contact Us European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation (EGLSF) c/o NCS Meeuwenlaan 41 NL-1021 HS Amsterdam The Netherlands eglsf@eglsf.info www.eglsf.info EGLSF Newsletter (ISSN: 1876-1763) is published by the European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation. EGLSF is registered as a nonprofit sports organisation with the Chamber of Commerce in The Hague and enjoys participatory status with the Council of Europe.