Gay volleyball

.

Who wouldn’t want to spend a week in Vegas playing a sport they love against the best of the best?

Another thing you can check out on their website is their Hall of Fame, which lists some of the best players that have contributed to their organization. We all stayed in a cramped VRBO with bunk beds and honestly didn’t do that well in the tournament, but it was the most fun I’ve ever had playing the sport.

Most local organizations have open play throughout the week where different skill levels can play together to learn and then there’s a season in the fall and in the winter for teams to compete for the title.

For the Austin Summerfest tournament, B, BB, and Mod A1 divisions are playing. “It pulled at my heartstrings in ways I didn’t even imagine were possible.

“He spoke from a place that I definitely related to, and I’m sure others did as well.

“And I love that he was able to talk about his experience so candidly and frankly.”

So far in Pride Month, Shoji’s reel has had nearly 1.5 million views and generated goodwill from across the global volleyball community.

Undoubtedly one of the best players in his position, the Honolulu-born athlete is also at the peak of his social game, attracting a sizeable following and helping to grow volleyball with new audiences.

Lui says leading the U.S.

team meant Shoji was already “a huge role model” but insists this next level of relatability for LGBTQ fans cannot be underestimated. 

“I coach kids and I’ll often ask them, ‘who are your favorite players?’ And when they’re talking about liberos, Eric is always one of them, and they’ll ask me if I know him.

“At tournaments, and because he played at the same university as me, we have connected over the years.

“It’s a really big step, and it’s a big deal in our volleyball community.”

Awakenings for young gay men in sports still so difficult

As was the case with Lui, other fellow LGBTQ athletes are still arriving at Shoji’s video on Instagram.

In the last few days, Italian Olympic gold medal winner Paola Egonu reacted with a heart emoji, while on the men’s side of the sport, former Brazil star Bruno Rezende — who has won world and Olympic titles — sent his congratulations.

Meanwhile, there have also been comments on Shoji’s posts that remind us of the things you shouldn’t say when someone comes out.

A number of TikTok users wrote “we already knew” or made similarly unhelpful contributions, prompting others to point out how coming out journeys can often be tougher for those in the public eye, or for those who wait until later in life to verbalize that part of who they are.

Lui offers a thoughtful take on the challenges that elite LGBTQ athletes continue to face as they try to decide exactly how to come out in the social media age.

For the most part, they have much more agency over such an announcement than in the past, but that greater sense of control can bring complications too.

“Especially for those on the world stage, an athlete going through this now has the power to fully express with everyone how they feel. 

“I think that’s hugely important, not just for them being able to proclaim it publicly and for themselves, but for the millions of however many kids — in athletics or not — who are wrestling with their own processes of awakening.

“Especially when you’re a young gay man in sports, it can still be very challenging to accept that part of yourself and deal with it internally.

“So for them to hear from people like Erik, in a way that allows the athlete to speak their truth, it’s just so freeing and vulnerable.

“I think that sends a good message to younger people in general, to approach their own identities and their own lives in the same way.”

In last year’s Volleyball Nations League, the Canada team containing Lui inflicted a 3-1 defeat on Shoji’s USA in Ottawa and went on to make the final round, with the Americans missing out on the quarterfinals.

The two teams will meet again this week as Pool 5 is played out in Hoffman Estates, near Chicago.