Yes, badminton is a highly competitive sport. You either love it É or you don't.
Just ask Gina Gomez, who is looking forward to showing her prowess in the game during the upcoming Outgames in Montreal.
The 41-year-old lesbian has been involved in badminton for the past 20 years.
"I started serious training during my college years, when I was 21 and continued until after competing internationally, trying to qualify for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta," she said. "Unfortunately, I only made it as an alternate. Thereafter, my motivation to compete diminished a bit. I guess you can say that after major efforts and sacrifices to this sport, whether financially, physically, and emotionally, I didn't think anything else was worth competing for."
Gomez, who is single, lives in South San Francisco. She is self-employed as senior manager at Lightyear Alliance, a communications and direct marketing firm.
Gomez said that for her, badminton competition has become a part of her life that she expects to last.
"My own personal reward is just thoroughly enjoying the sport heart and soul," she said. "I guess I will forever be competing in it until the day they spread my ashes on the courts of the All England Open."
The All England Open is badminton equivalent to Wimbledon in tennis, also held in England, she explained. "The passion to play has and will always be there. There is no financial reward in badminton. You either love the sport or you don't."
But for those who think badminton is that lazy game you played as a kid in the backyard, think again.
"In terms of training, this involves, and I feel I have done, a great deal of physical endurance and stamina; whether it be running wind-sprints or strength training," she said.
"Anything and everything to reach your body's full potential, you must do in order to obtain that high-level ability, not only physically but psychologically as well. But for the most part, training involves thousands of hours perfecting the same shots, and being able to strategically manipulate the shuttlecock in order to prevent your opponent from hitting a better shot or even winning the point."
Gomez pointed out that badminton is considered a very competitive sport in most parts of the world, except the states.
"In the U.S., badminton is thought of as something to play recreationally in your backyard," she said. "Worldwide, badminton is up there with tennis, basketball, and soccer in terms of athleticism and passion for the sport. Unfortunately, since it is not recognized as a viable sport, its financial rewards will never be in the same league as the other major sports in the U.S. At the same time, the U.S. will never breed highly competitive badminton athletes well enough to be in the same elite world-class players."
Gomez said that being gay and her involvement with the sport is not intertwined.
"Being an athlete is very important to me health-wise and knowing what my body is physically capable of accomplishing. Being gay has nothing to do with it – it's mainly a coincidence," she said. "I don't even know how me being gay would have any effect on anything or anyone. I would understand if I was a celebrity or have some kind of status that can encourage others to be open about their own sexuality. But I just don't have that much clout."
Gina said she was turned off by the politics and by the reaction of many members of the gay community when the Games changed venues.
"When I heard that the Gay Games were going to be in Montreal, I knew I would be competing again at a Gay Games event, since I wasn't able to participate in Sydney. But when they decided to change the venue, and the whole fiasco and dramatic separation, I was pretty disgusted by the showing by the gay community É there was certainly no pride there," she said.
[The 2006 Gay Games was originally awarded to Montreal; a contract dispute resulted in the organizing committee splitting with the Federation of Gay Games and deciding to hold its own event, called Outgames.]
"It suddenly seemed so political. Maybe I'm being naive and don't know the whole story, but I always thought that the whole point of the Gay Games was based on the premise of camaraderie, fun and most of all pride in being who we are."
"If we are a bunch of bitches bashing each other, then I don't want to be a participant in that," she said. "When I play at a Gay Games venue, I like to participate in a city, state or country that, in large part, supports the gay community. I just don't feel Chicago does. When I participated in Amsterdam, I felt comfortable there. I've been to Chicago ... definitely not comfortable there."