Parents want to launch a gender-inclusive sports league in the Triangle
When North Carolina became the latest state to ban transgender girls and women from playing on women’s sports teams earlier this year, Anne Sutkowi-Hemstreet and Ally Fion wondered if they could start their own sports league for kids of all gender identities.
The idea they came up with — a sports league for kids across the Triangle that wouldn’t segregate them by sex, but would let them all play and develop their skills together in a welcoming environment — took one step closer to fruition on Sunday, as more than 40 interested families brought their kids to the Old North Durham Park for a morning of soccer.
Parents and caregivers sipped coffee and cheered from the sidelines as the group of kids, most of them between 7 and 12, practiced their shooting and dribbling with the coaches, and then played scrimmage matches, before ending the day with a pizza lunch.
It’s a familiar scene for most children who grow up playing sports, and Sutkowi-Hemstreet said that for her and other parents of gender-nonconforming or nonbinary kids, it’s important to make sure their children can benefit from the same opportunities as well.
“Childhood sports benefit you well into your adulthood, and if we don’t do that, then these kids are missing out on something that they especially need, because they’re also discriminated against,” said Sutkowi-Hemstreet, who uses both she/her and they/them pronouns, and runs a nonprofit focused on the LGBTQ+ community called the Rainbow Collective for Change.
The law North Carolina’s GOP-controlled legislature enacted over Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto in August, House Bill 574, applies to middle schools and high schools, as well as colleges and universities whose teams are a part of an “intercollegiate athletic program” like the NCAA.
Fion, who helped plan Sunday’s gathering, is the co-founder of Durham Queer Sports, a community sports league and social group for LGBTQ+ people.
Talking to parents on Sunday, Fion, who uses they/them pronouns, said they heard from many parents that their kids wanted to get started with sports, but didn’t want to do so at their school or local sports league, because they’d have to play on a boys’ or girls’ team and didn’t feel comfortable with that choice.
“Everybody likes to be seen, and nobody likes to feel other-ed, and clearly, there’s a need for it and there’s a want for it,” Fion said.
Brenda Figueroa-Hubbard, a mom of two who volunteered to coach, said she was glad to be able to teach the kids a few skills, but also be there for them emotionally, and help provide a sense of community.
Having recently moved to Durham with her husband and two kids, from Washington, D.C., Figueroa-Hubbard said she was pleasantly surprised to find that the city is “a very inclusive and loving place.”
Tate Junis, another mother, said she’s struggled to find gender-inclusive sports near her home in southeast Wake County, and said she didn’t hesitate to drive to Durham to give her child a chance to play with others.
“It’s just been really nice to have the opportunity for them to come play with all kinds of children who don’t necessarily identify one way or the other, and just to really be able to be free,” Junis said.
Based on the turnout and feedback she received from parents, Sutkowi-Hemstreet said she and Fion are encouraged to try to make a gender-inclusive league a reality, probably starting with a full season of games next spring.
Eventually, she said, the goal would be to secure funding to launch a league and expand it to include teams from Chapel Hill and Raleigh.
“As the word gets out, I think more and more people will show up and come,” she said.
This story was originally published October 23, 2023 at 10:07 AM.
