From the Editor: Buddy Early

2010 is the year you stop talking and get to doing

Ok, Compete readers – listen up and listen good. My job this issue is to inspire each of you to stick to a New Year’s resolution. Specifically, I want to strongly encourage you to commit to becoming (or remaining) a member of your local gay sports community.

Now, I am certainly not someone who’s qualified to lecture anybody on diet, nutrition and working out; my beer gut and love for Cool Ranch Doritos pretty much eliminates me on that front. But what I can do is perhaps motivate you to get off you rear end and get involved in that sport you’ve been talking about for so long now.

In this issue of Compete we have an advance look at the year in gay sports. Our 2010 Calendar is inclusive of softball, volleyball, basketball, bowling, tennis, rugby, football, soccer and swimming. There are so many opportunities for weekend athletes, that there’s really no excuse for not picking up that football for the first time in years, for not jumping back in the pool after letting yourself go, or for not heading out to the softball diamond for the first time ever!

Even in the present shape I am in (refer back to the aforementioned beer gut) I stay active by playing volleyball at least once a week. It doesn’t take much to be an athlete … as I am proving. My volleyball league offers me both an outlet for my athletic desires and a social atmosphere where I have made countless friends over the years. In the end, isn’t that what being a member of a gay sports team is all about – establishing friendships and enjoying the camaraderie?

Becoming a part of a gay sports group is so easy, it still leaves you with plenty of time to focus on those other resolutions. In fact, I’ve got several, which include: to travel (further than the county line this year); to take dating seriously (refer yet again to the aforementioned beer gut); and to continue to produce a monthly magazine that I am incredibly proud of.

I am most confident in that last one. Thanks, Compete readers, for helping me achieve my goals.