'An amazing opportunity' - Rainbow Games celebrate sport for all walks of life

The clash of roller skates echoed through the Trust Arena in West Auckland today at the first day of the Rainbow Games.

Twelve events will take place across Auckland from today until Sunday, focused on creating a welcoming space for queer people in sport.

Over 600 people from 21 countries are taking part - including both seasoned athletes and people trying something new for the first time.

Today at Trust Arena, the games began with a rangitahi sporting event and a roller derby tournament, with competing teams from New Zealand and Australia.

Skater for Auckland-based team the Pirate City Rollers Daphne Hui said the atmosphere at Trust Arena was buzzing.

"The team and the community itself is feeling really buzzed about being part of Rainbow Games, because roller derby is such an inclusive sport.

"We welcome everyone from all walks of life to come and join us, where they can come and be their true authentic selves."

At the games, drag queens and kings mix with sports people - and sometimes, are both.

George Fowler is Hugo Grrrl, an enigmatic drag king - as well as performing at the opening ceremony, he is jumping into the pool for the first time since school to compete in swimming.

"It struck me as a really unique opportunity to acknowledge some of that trauma.

"As a queer person in sport, often times changing rooms and sporting spaces are really tricky and really scary spaces.

"By the time I left swimming, I had a really tough relationship with it. [The Rainbow Games] struck me as such an amazing opportunity to get back into the sport I love."

He never would have felt brave enough without the Rainbow Games.

"I'm a transgender man, so this is my first time in the water wearing speedos, and in this new body, so it's been pretty huge. It feels like a really huge win."

Fowler said he was not nervous to swim in the competition tomorrow.

"It's really not about winning for me. It's about confronting my fears and probably having a really healing moment being in a pool surrounded by other queer and trans people."

Kate Weatherly is a national mountain biking champion and an ambassador for the Rainbow Games - she got involved because of a gap in sporting events that uplift queer people.

"Although there are a huge amount of queer people in the sporting world already, really focusing on those people and highlighting them and uplifting queer people has been an area that's a bit of a gap.

"Particularly with the current socio-political environment around queer and particularly trans people being included in sport, having spaces where those people can benefit and participate in sport is so huge."

Weatherly has been mountain biking her whole life.

"When I initially started mountain biking, for me it was just all about the fun, hanging out with my mates, going in and hitting jumps and having a good time."

"As I got better at it and got more competitive, I started doing races, and really enjoyed that side of things.

"Through that time I was also figuring out my queer identity and my identity as a trans woman, and it was always quite hard trying to understand how those parts of my life were going to fit together."

But, Weatherly said when she came out, there was not such a focus on queer and trans exclusion from the sporting world - and the conversations about whether trans people should be included in both elite and community sport have increased in the last few years.

She is concerned that young people will become blocked from engaging in sport at all.

"Particularly now, with the narratives around queer inclusion and particularly trans inclusion in sport, if they're a young queer or trans person, they're just gonna see these barriers, and go, 'Oh, well I just don't want to be a part of that environment'.

"And I think they're really missing out, because my journey through the sporting world has given me so much, both in terms of community and in terms of personal growth."

Making those young people feel welcome was the focus of a special rangitahi event today, in partnership with School Sports New Zealand.

Teresa Platt, co-chairperson of the Pacific Rainbow Games Trust Board, said the rangitahi session brought together high schoolers who otherwise would not engage in sport.

"The outcomes for our rangitahi are the worst in the rainbow community. That's where people are isolated, or commit suicide."

"And I guess we're trying to reach out and say you don't have to feel like that, look at all us here, be loud and proud."

"We got your back, and we'll take care of you."

She said the event helped young rainbow people engage with their community, grow confidence and be healthy by moving their body through sport.

The Rainbow Games continue Saturday with more sports at the Trusts Arena and New Zealand's first Gay and Lesbian Tennis tournament in Albany.

On Sunday, multi-sports continue and the games will take to the waterfront for a half-marathon.

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