New York State of Mind
Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Staten Uptown, what now?! Let's make it happen!
After winning by the slimmest of margins, New York is ready to get to work on planning Gay Bowl XIX. But for the women of the NYGFL (or Sportbians* as they like to be called), hosting the tournament has taken on additional meaning to them.
Talking with players in the women's division, they reminisced about their first Gay Bowl experience and how it has changed their lives. Tierney Bryce recalls getting off the bus at the fields in Denver and immediately feeling at home. For her, and many other women in the league, football was not a sport she was allowed to play growing up or it simply did not exist as an option. She "geeked out" that she was finally able to participate at a national/international level. Now Tierney feels lucky that New York can host a tournament that has allowed her, and others, to create amazing friendships.
The excitement among the women is palpable. Players got goosebumps as they started talking about host a Gay Bowl in NYC and alumni of the league have already started offering to volunteer in any way they can. There is a strong community of past and present players eager to show the NGFFL what makes their league and their city so special. As Briana Jacobson stated, "the energy and support that you feel when playing in your city is something that raises the feeling of pride and love for a league that means so much to the community of Sportsbians."
Vanessa Villanova added, "New York has consistently sent men's and women's teams to cities throughout the US to participate in Gay Bowl and various other tournaments. It's exciting to pay it back to those cities by hosting in our hometown." And for the women in particular, "it is an incredible opportunity to bring like-minded female athletes together in one place to compete and be social, an opportunity that otherwise wouldn't exist."
In addition, the New York women are keen on honoring the history of the Women's Division in both the NGFFL and the NYGFL and doing what they can to ensure it continues to grow and thrive. By bringing the tournament to NYC, NYGFL players who have not been able to attend other Gay Bowls will now be able to create a better connection to the tournament. They will get to see first hand, the magical impact that Gay Bowl can have and the history that can be made.
*Sportsbian (noun) - a woman with an ironic love of balls [as defined by Amanda Metcalf]
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