 |
 |
Some 20 teams are expected for the Hotlanta Classic in late July, an annual event that kicks off the national gay volleyball circuit. (Photo by Matt Hennie)
|
|
|
| | |
|
| |
| |
|
|
| | |
HOME > COMMUNITY > SPORTS
By: MATT HENNIE
COMMENTS |
| 
THE MIDDLE OF SUMMER means the START of the competitive volleyball circuit, which always comes through Atlanta.
The Hotlanta Classic XVII, the annual tournament of the gay Hotlanta Volleyball Association, is the first stop on a circuit that will wind its way through seven states and two countries before the end of November, culminating in Chicago next May with the championships of the North American Gay Volleyball Association.
But a tough economy and escalating airfares are dinging the 27-year-old Hotlanta Classic, dropping attendance to an estimated 20 teams and about 160 athletes from the 30 teams and nearly 250 participants in 2007, according to Duc Nguyen, the tournament’s director.
“We are comparing our numbers with other tournament cities and they are pretty much having the same problems as us,” Nguyen said. “I think we are doing OK.”
Also impacting the tournament is a new NAGVA rule prohibiting players from competing in a division lower than their individual rating. The Hotlanta Classic is one of the first tournaments impacted by the rule change, which was put in place in May. Teams often had one more highly skilled player as part of its core; now they face competing at that player’s skill level or dropping the player and adjusting their roster, Nguyen said.
“Teams have to find someone else to get a complete team. It’s hard for those players to find a team to travel and play with. You have to start from scratch,” he said.
TEAMS FROM CHICAGO, DALLAS, HOUSTON and Louisiana will join several squads from Atlanta during two days on the courts of Emory University. The rest of the tournament enjoys a decidedly Midtown sensibility. Teams are rooming at the Regency Suites Hotel on West Peachtree, Burkhart’s hosts registration and other opening activities on Friday, Amsterdam Atlanta is home to the seeding announcement event on Saturday and a post tournament celebration on Sunday takes place at Woofs.
Teams open play on Saturday, working out the kinks in their performance and settling on rotations for play on Sunday. Then the matches shift to elimination play and lead to tournament champions across three divisions – A, BB and B. The A division, the top for this event, includes former college athletes and those with strong skill levels, while the B division includes players with experience but the matches are less competitive and more social.
“It’s about the experience of a new city and with different people and making friends. Of course, you get some competitive volleyball, which is nice,” Nguyen said.
WITH THREE LOSSES to open the Bingham Cup, the Atlanta Bucks Rugby Football Club was unsure how it would fare in the international championships last month. But when competitive play started, the club won three consecutive matches to win the Bowl Division, one of four tiers of play.
Winning the title capped a tough regular season, where the Bucks finished 3-6, but surpassed their goal of bettering their sixth-place finish in the mid-tier level of the 2006 Bingham Cup, said Bullet Manale, the club’s president.
“It’s a three-day tournament and we kept our heads in it,” Manale said. “We didn’t freak out too much. We were playing good rugby and it started to come together for us.”
The tournament, held every two years, was started in 2002 to honor Mark Bingham, a gay rugby player from San Francisco who was killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In a touching moment, the Bucks received their trophy from Alice Hoglan, Bingham’s mother.
“It was such an honor. She’s so sweet and genuine. It feels good to know that we’re living on Mark’s legacy. It just feels good and brings some emotion to it. You did it, you won and it’s an honor to get something from her,” Manale said.
|
