Like many athletes participating in the upcoming Gay Games and Outgames, Jet Villavicencio has found a way to stay in shape, enjoy competition, and socialize.
Villavicencio, 31, of Mountain View, refers to himself as a "volleyball whore." And his rigorous training schedule and dedication to finding competition throughout the country may prove that.
"I'll go anywhere to play volleyball," Villavicencio said of his enthusiasm for the game.
The systems engineer at Microsoft has been with his partner, James Porter, for over a year. The two met at Fresh, a Sunday night T-dance in San Francisco.
This year Villavicencio will be competing with the San Francisco Cabana Boys in the B division at the Outgames in late July. At the Gay Games in mid-July, he will compete with the Vancouver Rice Krispies in the same division.
"I'm really excited about attending both the Gay Games and the Outgames," he said. "This summer is going to be a whirlwind of fun. Hopefully my teams will do well, as my team did in the 2002 Sydney Gay Games."
His team, the San Francisco Cabana Boys, won gold in the C division in men's competition. If Villavicencio's teammates have been getting the practice and training he has, they definitely should have a shot at a medal again this year.
Check out his regular week of workouts: Monday nights, he plays in the Industrial Volleyball League men's BB league; Tuesday nights, he takes an advanced adult volleyball clinic at Menlo Park; Wednesday, he works out with his personal trainer; Thursday and Friday are hsi travel days to play in North American Gay Volleyball Association tournaments around the country.
When not competing nationally on the weekends he does gay open gym volleyball in San Francisco and South Bay Volleyball Club open play in Santa Clara.
Villavicencio familiarized himself with volleyball at a young age and competition came later.
"I played volleyball socially while I was in high school and college, but I began playing competitively in 2000," he said. "In the last six years, I've played competitively in the local 'straight' adult volleyball leagues, like IVL and City Beach, and nationally in the NAGVA. I've also been involved with the SBVBC, which is a gay volleyball club."
He says that along with the competition, volleyball has shaped up to be a great social outlet for him.
"In addition to the benefits of staying in shape, playing gay volleyball, especially on the national level with NAGVA, has been a wonderful social experience for me," he said. "Because of playing in gay volleyball tournaments in the U.S. and Canada, I've made so many friends in so many different places. There's always a sense of camaraderie at NAGVA tournaments, both on and off the court," said Villavicencio, who currently serves on the NAGVA board of directors as a member-at-large.
But he doesn't consider himself a gay athlete.
"Because of the fact that I play in both straight volleyball and gay volleyball, I consider myself an athlete who just happens to be gay," he said.
"Although, after I went to the 2002 Gay Games in Sydney, it did give me a warm feeling to think that I'm glad that I have outlets like the Gay Games and the Outgames where I can be proud of being a gay volleyball player."
He said he welcomes two LGBT athletic events this year.
"When I heard about the OutGames, I thought to myself that it's another great opportunity to meet and play against gay volleyball teams from all over world, in addition to the Gay Games. I guess you can just call me a volleyball slut or a volleyball whore ... I'll go anywhere to play volleyball."