Westfield, MA --- The MASCAC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) played host to You Can Play, an organization designed to end homophobia in sports, on Saturday, December 8 hosted by Worcester State during their annual meeting.
According to their mission statement, "You Can Play" is an organization dedicated to "ensuring equality, respect and safety for all athletes, without regard to sexual orientation and works to guarantee that athletes are given a fair opportunity to compete, judged by other athletes and fans alike, only by what they contribute to the sport or their team’s success.”
Joining the student-athletes and administrators from around the conference were a panel of three current and former student-athletes who spoke on issues ranging from their own personal experiences to casual homophobia in athletics. After their discussion, the panel opened up for questions from the MASCAC student-athletes.
Incoming Worcester State SAAC President Teddy Ferreira, who plays on both the football and men's track & field teams, felt that having the panel as part of the meeting brought light issues that haven’t previously been talked about in athletics.
"I thought the meeting really helped open up athletes' eyes to some of the problems that occur in sports,” Ferreira said. “The whole concept of casual homophobia is one that to me has never really been addressed in athletics. It always happens, but it never is brought up as an issue to many sports teams. Students and athletes are very aware of what they say, however, they see nothing wrong in what they do if certain people do not hear them.
Ferreira mentioned that the presentation reminded him of a noteworthy John Wooden quote that summed up his thoughts about the You Can Play panel.
"‘The true test of a man's character is what he does when no one is watching.’ In order to better ourselves as athletes and to be respectful of others, we must be conscious of what our words really mean to everyone," said Ferreira.
"In that sense we must address the problem of casual homophobia amongst athletes, so that way everyone can feel accepted as part of a team."
Prior to the panel, the group held their annual meeting to discuss topics from around the eight institutions, including upcoming legislation for the NCAA National Convention in January and the community service project that will be done in 2014-15.
“The meeting with the panel from You Can Play was very well-received by the student-athletes and administrators in attendance from around the conference,” MASCAC Commissioner Angela Baumann said. “We hope that the information and experiences that were shared are brought back to campus and create further discussion on these very prevalent topics.”
Major Parts of Release Courtesty of MASCAC Sports Information
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