From January 30 to February 3, over 1,500 registered participants descended on Melbourne for the first ever Asia Pacific Outgames. The games, which ran alongside Melbourne’s Pride festival, Midsumma, and a GLBT human rights conference, had competitors in 12 sporting events – badminton, dancesport, hockey, lawn bowls, rowing, running, squash, swimming, tennis, ten pin bowling, volleyball and water polo.
The Outgames kicked off with an opening celebration at Melbourne Town Hall. Competitors paraded in and packed Town Hall to watch a lineup of acts from throughout the Asia Pacific that culminated with a performance by Brisbane electro-trio Slinkee Minx and some camp numbers from Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
After coming together for the opening, the competitors fanned out across Melbourne, as the Outgames took over some of Melbourne’s world-class sporting facilities, including the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre, which hosted the 2006 Commonwealth Games, and Melbourne Park, host of the recent Australian Open.
Catherine Meade, Co-President of GLISA (Gay and Lesbian International Sport Association) declared the Outgames a success from start to finish.
‘I truly couldn’t be more thrilled about how the event has gone… On the level of ensuring an outstanding experience for athletes and participants in events, that goal has been achieved and it has been achieved in a number of ways – the venues, the officiating, the signage, the volunteers.’
Indeed, the Melbourne’s 2008 Outgames leaves behind a legacy for future Asia Pacific Outgames, most notably in its sound financial management. Following a World Outgames in Montreal that lost money, the regional Outgames, according to Co-President Peter Sagar is believed to be ‘on track for a break even games.’
While the regional, purely volunteer-based model of the Melbourne Asia Pacific Outgames is not feasible for the larger World Games, it is a working model for future regional games that will hopefully build support and strengthen competition at the larger World Games.
‘For me, an overall highlight has been the legacy continuation and legacy building… both on a conceptual level as well as in concrete ways. The model that Melbourne has created in its relationship with the clubs and how things were organized on that level is a great model and a great legacy,’ Ms Meade said.
From organizers to officials, the Melbourne 2008 Outgames was staffed purely by volunteers. The volunteer team secured major sponsorship from Smart Car, IBM and STA Travel as well as support from city and state government. Moreover, the Outgames team worked with a network of GLBT media partners throughout the Asia Pacific to promote the games and lead a successful registration drive that met and exceeded targets for all 12 of the sports on offer. Local community groups, such as the gay and lesbian swimming club the Glamourhead Sharks, then acted as managing host clubs for the various sporting events.
According to Asia Pacific Outgames Co-President Peter Sagar, the process of establishing the Melbourne 2008 model required the organizers to constantly make choices based on what was achievable and realistic. And in the end, it was the volunteers’ dedication and countless hours that made the games a reality and a success.
‘We would have loved to have had staff, but at the point in time when we were going to make staff appointments, there just wasn’t the funding. We had different models in place, and we had to make a decision as to which track was best at particular points in time with what was in the bank or committed to. It has been really hard being entirely volunteer based, but at the same time, very rewarding. The team has just done a remarkable job. Everyone from the management team through to host sports clubs through to the Outgames conference organizing committee to event-mode volunteers, it’s just phenomenal. We are not talking hundreds and hundreds of people, just a key group of people who are completely passionate about creating this great experience.’
After dedicating the last year to promoting and establishing the Outgames, Peter Sagar said once the games were underway, ‘the last 12 months of work just seemed to evaporate.’ Indeed, even with the grueling schedule of organizing the Outgames, Peter had enough energy to swim a personal best in the 100m freestyle.
For Peter and many of the others who attended or participated in the Outgames, there was really only one problem – there was so much happening, you simply couldn’t do it all.
‘It was frustrating that there was so much to see and do and not being able to move around to all the different venues and do all the stuff at the conference,’ Peter said.
However, the events and competitions Peter did make it to reinforced to him that all the hard work had been worth it, as the Outgames strengthened not only the queer sporting community, but the broader Asia Pacific GLBT community.
‘The energy and the electricity and the passion, I could feel all over the place at all the different venues. The networking and the strengthening of community is a fantastic outcome of meeting, of coming together, with people from around the region.’
