Posted Tue, 19 Aug 2014, 10:52pm by Yanick Landry
Before getting involved as a board member of OUTSport Toronto, I was fortunate to attend a presentation by Gay Games Cleveland at OST Scrum 2013 last fall.
At the time, as president of the Toronto Gay Sailing Club, I became very enthusiastic about the possibility of our newly founded club competing at the international level in an LGBT Sporting Event.
Fast forward to last week and our sailing club had teams representing Toronto in both the competitive and the recreational division: we brought home the Bronze in the Tartan 10 Division.
As I joined the Team Toronto committee, a program of OUTSport Toronto, I got energized leading up to GG9: uniforms where designed, ordered and eventually delivered!
Marching in as a unified Team Toronto in the Opening Ceremonies at GG9Cleveland brought joy to my heart and I was extremely proud of all our athletes, delegates and volunteers who brought Team Toronto together.
But more than pride rose to the top: our athletes performed and brought home a fantastic number of medals, in the estimate of over 130, at least 30 Gold (we have not received the official count from GG9Cleveland as of now).
Throughout the week, OUTSport Toronto was the leader of the Canadian delegation, first by organizing Team Toronto, the Canada Rocks Cleveland Cocktail Party in association with Team Ottawa, and setting up the Team Canada Winners’ Circle, publishing medal results daily as they were made available to us.
This sharing of information on social medias heightened the level of excitements for all participants, not only from Team Toronto, but all across Canada, which lead to the creation of a virtual Team Canada, which was discussed at the Canadian Sports Leaders Brunch hosted by OUTSport Toronto early in the week at GG9Cleveland.
As our member associations continue to participate in sporting events internationally, OUTSport Toronto will continue to remain a strong leader across Canada, supporting not only our Team Toronto abroad, but all Canadian LGBT athletes.
Next week, Muddy York Rugby RFC will be competing at the Bingham Cup 2014 in Sydney, Australia, an international LGBT rugby competition, representing both Team Toronto and Team Canada.
OUTSport Toronto, Team Toronto and Team Canada LGBT wishes them the greatest successes and if your sport’s league is planning to attend or host a provincial, national or international LGBT tournament, be sure to let me know!
View Team Canada at GG9 Winners’ Circle Results
Team Toronto on Facebook | Team Toronto Website
Team Canada on Facebook | Team Canada on Twitter
OUTSport Toronto on Facebook | OUTSport Toronto on Twitter
Yanick Landry
Director of Membership and Members’ Services
OUTSport Toronto
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The Ottawa Wolves Rugby
by John Gazo (not verified) - 21 Aug 2014 - 9:05pm
The Ottawa Wolves Rugby Football Club will also be competing next week in the Bingham Cup 2014!
Hi John!Make sure to post the
by Yanick Landry - 22 Aug 2014 - 8:56am
Hi John!
Make sure to post the Ottawa Wolves Rugby Football Club matches results to the Team Ottawa Facebook Group or tweet them directly to @TeamCanadaLGBT so we can share them with everyone!
Safe travels and best of luck! #Proud
Yanick
Hey Yanick. Congratulations
by Anonymous (not verified) - 20 Aug 2014 - 10:44am
Hey Yanick.
Congratulations on your sailing victories in Clevland!
I'm a member of a gay soccer team in BC and i'm wondering what we can look forward to in terms of your support for athletes outside of Toronto. Like most gay teams we have our own share of struggles, would love to hear a few ways you can support us.
Looking forward to seeing your answer and maybe starting a great conversation here!
Thanks
CC
Hi CC, Thanks for your
by Yanick Landry - 21 Aug 2014 - 8:38pm
Hi CC,
Thanks for your comment and good words about our Bronze medal - we are very proud.
One of OUTSPORT TORONTO’s mission is to facilitate interaction and communication amongst member LGBT sport organizations.
As a programme of OUTSPORT TORONTO, Team Toronto at the Gay Games in Cleveland was created to specifically speak to that part of our mission statement.
We quickly realized that participants in other Ontario cities would not have the same group experience at the Gay Games and expended our scope to include them.
While in Cleveland, we held a Canadian Leaders Brunch to share our experiences with other community leaders and start an open dialogue about our needs across Canada. Team Canada LGBT was born, right there in Cleveland that week, following our successful Canada Rocks Cleveland cocktail party co-hosted by Team Ottawa.
OUTSPORT TORONTO is of course a regional organization but our recent experiences have showed us that we must continue to be a community leader and a good example for regional organizations across Canada. It’s our vision to be the respected voice of LGBT sport.
Should there be interest in the Vancouver area to create an organization like OUTSPORT TORONTO, we would be more than happy to consult with you on moving forward.
As for supporting athletes right now who are not in our geographical area, I would say on behalf of OUTSPORT TORONTO that we are always open to sharing information that is relevant to the LGBT Sport Community, and the successes that our advocacy programme is making will benefit all athletes in Canada in the future.
On a personal note, I would encourage you to follow Team Canada on Twitter and follow Team Canada on Facebook. We will be using these tools to continue promoting inclusion in sports, celebrate and promote LGBT Sport events across Canada. This will be an open forum for all Canadian LGBT athletes to share and help each other.
From our leaders meeting in Cleveland, we are confident that we have secured regional leaders in Montréal, Ottawa, Toronto and Edmonton (Calgary & Vancouver delegate were not available to attend).
I am looking forward to chatting with you further and continuing this conversation, possibly welcoming you as Team Canada LGBT Vancouver delegate!
All the best,
Yanick