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Whether you love wearing the shoes or handling oversized balls, Ten Pin Bowling needs you! Andrew Georgiou talks with long-time striker Ian from Amigos Gay Bowling Team
How long have gay bowling teams been running in Sydney? The first Gay Bowling League in Sydney was Freelance and they started in the late 1970s. Today we are part of Team Sydney, which has been around since the first Gay Games in 1982. Today, it acts as the ‘umbrella' organisation for around 30 gay sports in Sydney and NSW.
How many gay bowling teams are there in Sydney? Presently there are three organised leagues in Sydney:Amigos G&L Bowling at Randwick AMF; Freelance League at Manhattan Superbowl, Roseberry; and Sydney Rams Ten Pin Bowling Club at Manhattan Superbowl Roseberry.
What do you think the appeal is for gay men and women? Is it the chance at wearing those shoes? Bowling still gets enthusiasts who like the aerobic effect of bowling, together with the camaraderie and sociability. Any self-respecting gay bowler quickly ‘gets over' those shoes issued at bowling centres and will buy something a lot more tasteful.
Explain how the teams are set up? There can be one-person teams, doubles, which is teams of two, and then teams comprising three, four or five bowlers. Officially five-person teams are the international standard but we run fours as well.
Are lesbians better bowlers than they are dancers? I have bowled with and against lesbian bowlers in many tournaments and they are fantastic bowlers and great competitors. I cannot comment on their dancing skills.
Have gay teams ever felt excluded from the wider competition? I have only once experienced anti-gay sentiment in a NSW championship. So I bowled his arse off (in front of his girlfriend). That put paid to all the muttered, half-heard ‘poofter' comments.
Do Sydney teams play internationally at times? Sydney gay bowling is always represented at a Gay Games; it was represented at Outgames I in Montreal and I am assuming there will be Sydney bowlers at Outgames II, 2009 in Copenhagen and Gay Games VIII, 2010 in Cologne.
Has anyone ‘bowled' another team member over resulting in a loving relationship? Um, yes. Though not as frequently as one would expect.
Team Sydney's Sports Day Out will be on Sunday 12 October, in and around the sports facilities in Sydney Boys' & Girls' High Schools and neighbouring Moore Park. To get involved in gay bowling teams go to Amigos Bowling, Sydney Rams or Team Sydney Inc