Gay rugby team Newcastle Ravens tackle homophobia in sport

Jan 8 2009 by Chris Robinson, The Journal

FORGET the cliches, well, at least until a few pints in the clubhouse afterwards. The Ravens play rugby. They have players of all shapes and sizes. And they like winning.

But most of the players are gay.

When I tell other guys I play for a gay rugby team, there’s usually a mixed response.

Some laugh and there’s the odd “joke”, but some are pretty impressed, if not a little intrigued. The biggest problem is breaking down the stereotypes portrayed in the media that all gay men are camp with no interest in sport.

The Ravens have been running since 2006 and were set as an alternative to Newcastle’s “party hard” gay scene.

In two years it has transformed from a couple of lads throwing a ball around the park to become a squad of 15 regulars battling it out against the mighty San Francisco Fogs and Sydney Convicts in the international Bingham Cup.

They train twice a week with a mixture of intense circuit training fitness and handling skills. Chairman Dave Burke, 26, came up with the idea as a way back into the game after experiencing homophobic elements of the sport himself.

“It’s quite an intimidating environment regardless of sexuality if you‘re not part of that already,” he said.

“I enjoyed playing, so I thought it would be a good idea to try and set something up, but it was a really slow uptake at first. I was absolutely gutted, but rather than give up on the idea I tried again and a couple of months later about eight or nine people turned up. It went from there.

“I’m really happy with how far we have come – it has taken a lot of work..” Dave says he and the players want to break down barriers and stereotypes. “One of our players moved here and didn’t know anyone, but he liked rugby and joined the team.

“He said that if it wasn’t for the team, then he wouldn’t have met a great group of friends and would have just been out on the drink, trying to meet people that way.

“It has made a big difference to people’s lives: some gay men don’t have a lot of gay male friends. Not all gay men like going on the scene and aren’t interested in it.”

The Ravens have an open-to-all policy and there is a handful of players who are heterosexual wanting to get back into the game at grass roots. But is the sporting world guilty of creating a barrier between gay and straight men?

The Ravens, affiliated to the RFU, train at Novos RFC in Benton, where they are fully supported by the players and club.

“They have embraced us and a lot of our guys have become friends,” said Dave. “They probably wouldn’t have met a gay guy if it wasn’t for that.

“What I want to do next is to play in local leagues. It’s to break down the barriers and the stereotypes and to become part of the rugby community. From the clubs that we have played for they are really supportive of us, probably because they see how serious we are about rugby, they see us train in the rain and mud and that we still come back and never give up.

“It will give us the opportunity to play and score and to prove that gay men aren’t just a bunch of pansies.”

For more information on The Ravens RFC and if you want to join, visit www.newcastleravens.co.uk.