Go Team Cork!

Eva Gould

Badminton

“I had been living in New Zealand for a few years and when I came back home to Ireland I wanted to make some friends and re-connect with the LGBT+ community in Cork. The LINC facebook page posted about the badminton group and I thought it sounded fun. I said it to my friend Jen and the two of us headed out to Carrigtohill to try it out. It turned out to be great fun and the people were really friendly.

Exercise is good for your body and mind, and sport allows you to get plenty of exercise. I like running, but running on a treadmill isn’t all that fun; whereas playing a sport is a great motivator to exercise. You want to be fit and able, to play the best you can. The competition side of things helps you to train your mind. You learn to focus on what is happening in the moment and shut out the peripheral things.

Badminton for me is a really social sport. We play doubles so you get the opportunity to play alongside each of the players. This allows you to work on different techniques, because everyone has different skills. I’m a bit shy, so it’s great to connect with people.

I haven’t been to the Gay Games before. Some of the others in the group have talked a lot about it. It sounds like a once in a lifetime kind of thing, to get to be a part of it. I think it will be a bit of an adventure. It’s exciting to be part of such a big event and to be part of a team.”

Sarah O’Sullivan

Boxing

I’ve always admired boxing as a sport but I wasn’t aware of any boxing gyms that had women training, let alone LGBT people. It was only 2012, when women’s boxing was allowed in the Olympics, that boxing seemed like a possibility for me. It took me until 2017, when I decided I wanted to box in the Gay Games in Paris in 2018, to actually do something about it. I realised I needed to find a coach and a place to train.

I wondered if maybe there were other women in the LGBT community who would like to try it too. A notice was put out via LINC, the resource centre for Lesbian and Bisexual women in Cork (where I also happen to work part-time) and the LINC Boxing Group was formed. We started training in late October last year, and now there are eight of us committed to participating in boxing at the Games - seven of us total novices, and our coach Ciara.

Our training plan for the Games is more of what we have done to date just at a higher intensity. We’re hoping to get in a practice fight or white-collar event sometime in May or June ahead of the games in August, in order to be prepared for the environment we will find ourselves in there, competing in front of a crowd.

As we are all new to this we need to get the mandatory equipment. Most boxing competitions provide the safety gear (head guards, gloves) but we are all required to have our own. We set up a Go Fund Me to try and raise the funds and so far people have been very generous, our goal is €2,000. I am also involved in ‘Team Cork’ as a sub-section of ‘Team Ireland’. There are around 40 athletes going from Cork. As most of the Cork athletes are flying out from Cork Airport, the DAA has offered to host a reception / send off for us there on the way out on August 3.

I am looking forward to the chance to represent my country at the Gay Games and proving to myself that I can achieve this goal that I set for myself, which seemed so far-fetched when I started. Speaking to people who have been to the Games before, they all say it was one of the best experiences of their lives. For anyone considering going as a supporter or participant, there are still places left in most sports, so just go for it!”

Emma O’Reilly

Swimming & Boxing

“I’ve always had a keen interest in swimming, I love the water and find swimming very relaxing. It also is such a low-impact sport, which is ideal for me as I am carrying injuries. When I found out that the Gay Games were taking place in Paris I decided to register for the swimming event and use this for motivation to push my training to a competitive level. After registering for swimming at the Gay Games, I sought advice from master swimmer Eilis Burns, who gave me valuable tips on my technique.

I joined the LINC boxing group initially as a way to get fit. I didn’t think this would be the sport for me, due to recent surgery on my shoulder, but I quickly fell in love with boxing and decided to stick with it and compete in Paris with the rest of the LINC boxing team. It’s great to have other people to train with. The girls are a fantastic bunch of people, along with our coach Ciara. There is a great sense of camaraderie within the group, which will always give extra drive in training, and hopefully at the competition.

I’m really delighted to be involved with Team Cork. I’ve been living in Cork a long time and they have taken me in as one of their own, despite being a proud Clare woman. As a serving member of the Irish Army, I know what it means to represent our country overseas. I’m looking forward to having that same emotion and pride with Team Ireland at the Gay Games opening ceremony and throughout the competition.

I’m looking forward to the atmosphere that will surround the Games, getting a chance to explore Paris with my partner Sarah, and obviously after putting 110 per cent into both my sports, I’ll be looking forward to a few pints with my team.”

Grainne Cummins

Badminton & Boxing

“I joined the LINC badminton team shortly after coming to Cork in April 2015. I had a need to meet other ladies from the community and make new friends, and I could join without any experience or skill. You can get better at your own pace without any pressure; we play against all levels, which helps to improve weaker players.

Later I put my name down for boxing at LINC too. It’s a sport I always wanted to do. It’s fantastic for all-round fitness and gives a great sense of focus. It helps to shape all parts of the body because huge strength is required in the core, arms and legs.

As a sufferer of depression, my involvement in badminton and now boxing mean the world to me. It’s a support network, friends to see each week, an activity to go to, and the exercise is vital for my mental health alone. Being part of something is a lovely feeling. I train for badminton twice a week and boxing once a week. Both sports require speed and agility, so I train myself the days in between, from running to core exercises and skill practice by boxing a punch bag.

I have never been to the Gay Games before and I am very excited to go to Paris where 15,000 gay people will come together from all over the world to compete and party. I am very proud to wear the Cork colours (even though I’m a Wexford woman) and represent the great supports we have here in Cork for lesbian women.”

Jennifer Foley

Women’s Badminton Doubles

“I like the speed of badminton. At times it can be so fast that before I have even had the chance to process that the shuttlecock has been hit, I have already hit it back. These are moments of pure instinct. They help me to get out of my head and trust that my body knows what to do. The best games are when I can’t remember most of what’s happened. The game has gone faster than I can think. For me, it is mindfulness through exercise.

At the Gay Games, we’re going to be playing in division C for those with no competition experience. I’ve been calling it the ‘Craic Division’. We haven’t been playing the sport long enough to take it too seriously, so we’re going to play the best we can and have some fun.

We all want to do well, though, so after a few of us signed up for the Games we hired in a coach for a few sessions and started more intense sessions every second Saturday. I also personally just try to keep active in daily life which I have found a lot easier since I gave up having a car. I now cycle and walk most places and that has been very good for me.

I’ve been thinking of the Games as a massive sporty Pride festival. The biggest Pride I have ever been to is the Cork one, so I’m really looking forward to being surrounded by 15,000plus queer people.

I have been playing sports since I was five years old and it has been a dream of mine almost as long to represent my country. I cannot wait to walk out under the Irish banner in the opening ceremony and to play badminton in our fabulous new Cork jerseys!”

Hollifer Fogarty

Badminton

“I’m not much for team sports, but badminton is different. You don’t have the pressure of letting a team down. You can still let yourself down, but you can use that loss to motivate you to get better. I never felt inspired to improve by feeling someone else’s disapproving gaze upon me. Badminton also suits me as a person because it gives me a way to smack the hell out of something without any legal repercussions.

Sport doesn’t have to be an all or nothing, all-encompassing thing, and I think the notion that you’re either ‘sporty’ or you’re not actually puts people off trying new things. Playing as an adult and playing as a kid are poles apart. If you play a sport as an adult, you’re choosing to play it, you make the rules and you can also choose to tell someone to shove it if they’re being an arse about your level of proficiency. There is nothing to lose, and everything to gain.

I’m actually competing as half of a doubles partnership so I do still have the pressure of not letting my partner down, but if you miss a shot your partner can still pick up the slack and vice versa.

For me, representing Ireland at the Gay Games is a mad mixture of absolute fear and absolute pride. I’m hoping that if I don’t do well, I can at least charm the crowd into forgiveness and sympathy. We are known to be the best fans when we’re abroad, so I want to show that we’re the best participants too.

I have been told there’s absolutely nothing like the Gay Games, and I am excited to experience that for myself. I’m imagining ‘Pride: Now with 100 per cent more activewear!’ I’m hoping I’m right.”

Pádraig Rice

Running – Half Marathon

In the village I grew up in in West Kerry, the community games were an important annual summer fixture, so I probably took part in my first race aged five or six. I took up competitive athletics again in Secondary School when a new teacher set up a group in the school. After a while, I also joined a local running club Tralee Harriers. Like lots of gay men, I dropped out of competitive sport in my late teens. I only took it back up in the last year when I signed up for the 10km relay as part of the Cork City Marathon.

I’m quite a competitive person and I like to challenge myself, and I think that works well for long-distance running. You have to be self-motivated and continuously challenge yourself to go that extra mile. I try to get out for a run almost every morning before work and then an extra-long run at the weekends. I have also recently taken up yoga one evening a week to help improve flexibility and strength.

It would be great to have an LGBT running group in Cork. I work as the Coordinator of the Cork Gay Project, so if anyone else was interested in this or setting up any other sports club for the community, I’d be delighted to support it.

A study by Sports England found that 55% of gay and bi men are not active enough to maintain good health. This compares to 33% of men in the general population. It’s important that more opportunities are created for the LGBT community to take part in sports. One of the great things about the Gay Games is that the focus is on participation, so anyone can take part whether you are a pro-athlete or amateur, young or old, LGBT or not.”

Ruth O’Mahony

Boxing

“I had always competed in team sports, and had played basketball to international level in the early ’90s, but at 43, boxing allowed me to take up a new sport and to compete and train, with women of all ages. It is a very skilful and tactical sport, and this aspect has a huge draw for me, as you may end up boxing a much younger or taller opponent, and this is where tactics and skill can help you to compete and win a fight.

I think sport is important for individuals on many levels, from a basic fitness point of view to mental health, and the social aspect. I think it is especially important in the LGBT community, as some of our members can feel quite isolated.

I’m looking forward to representing my community, county and country and hopefully competing well. I’m looking forward to the opening ceremony and walking out, wearing the Irish colours, and being surrounded by 15,000 LGBT comrades, but I’m most looking forward to spending ten days with my squad, and the fun, comradeship and support that that comes with. Of course, I’m also looking forward to supporting other Irish team members in their individual sports.

I have been battling weight issues for a long time, and have lost a lot of weight recently, so for me, competing in the Gay Games and representing Cork and Ireland, is a reality I thought I’d never be living. So this is very special and a once in a lifetime opportunity for me.”

The 2018 Gay Games take place in Paris from August 4 to August 12, www.paris2018.com. To find out about joining Team Ireland, visit Facebook/Team Ireland Gay Games