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Long Beach Is Having A Ball
By Lorenzo Frazier
While Americans appear to have been the last to catch soccer fever, it is finally burning strong and has been embraced by the LGBT community. The Long Beach Waverunners, a local spinoff of the Los Angeles Municipal League, was founded by Dr. Hans Laursen in 2008.
Laursen, a thirty-two year old Family Medicine Physician who works with community clinics in Long Beach, Orange County and San Diego, explained he used to love playing soccer when he was younger but had lost touch with the sport after college. “I wanted to become active with the sport again,” Lauursen said, “and I wanted to find a gay activity that wasn’t limited to the typical bar scene.” Laursen heard about the gay and lesbian West Hollywood Soccer Club and watched a few games of the Suns, finding the healthy, active, supportive environment he was looking for.
The Waverunners were established with the goal of promoting good sportsmanship in a fun and accepting environment. Laursen placed several ads in order to attract members and had a booth at the 2008 and 2009 Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Festivals. “We now have generally 12 to 20 people show up at our Saturday practices,” Laursen said. “Practices are open to anyone who would like to join us.”
The current team members come from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences, but Laursen explained that most of them have at least a small amount of soccer experience. The Waverunners consist of men and women from Long Beach and the surrounding area ranging from eighteen years old to their mid-fifties. Most of the members are gay and lesbian, but several straight men have voiced interest in joining the team as well.
“These straight players came to me asking about joining us, saying our team lacks the over critical competitiveness and ego-boosting found in the predominantly-straight leagues,” Laursen said. “We have plenty of competitive players on our team, but we’re not jerks about it. We respect the game and each-other.
Laursen suspects the gay and lesbian members of the team may have more respect for the game because they may be trying to overcome experiences of homophobia they dealt with while participating in sports as children. Because of this, the team maintains an environment where the players are encouraged to learn and grow in the sport without being over-critical or disrespectful.
“We make a point before every game to sit down and have each person say one thing they liked about the previous game and one thing they didn’t think went well,” Laursen explained. “We then leave that on the sidelines and play the game.”
The Waverunners’ coach is Eddie Valzquez, who has been playing soccer since he was four years old and has been involved in gay leagues in Washington D.C. and Los Angeles. Along with the aid of team captains Tony Macalski, Christie Pearce, and Carlos Chavez, Valzquez has created a strong fighting force in the Waverunners. “We had several exhibition games with the West Hollywood team, The Suns, and we actually scored more goals than their more-experienced team,” Laursen said. “We have an upcoming game scheduled with the San Diego Sparks and hope to be able to establish a west coast championship including gay and lesbian teams from San Diego to Seattle.”
Laursen and coach Valzquez’ ultimate goal is for the Waverunners to compete in either the International Gay & Lesbian Football Association in 2012 or even the Gay Games in 2014. The Silver Fox will be hosting a fundraiser for the team on Saturday, July 11th following their practice session.
Practices are currently held at Rosie the Riveter Park (Douglas Park) by the Long Beach Airport each Saturday from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. The Waverunners will be competing in League 1 for the 2009 season at the Latin American Soccer Center located at 6680 Long Beach Blvd. in Long Beach.
Be sure to check out the Long Beach Waverunners’ website at www.longbeachgaysoccer.com if you have any interest in joining the team or simply watching a game.