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Chicago Gay Games to feature volunteer service award during opening ceremony

Chicago Gay Games to feature volunteer service award during opening ceremony
Award nomination forms are now available online The Chicago Gay Games VII opening ceremony will ring with a roar of enthusiasm during the presentation of the quadrennial Tom Waddell Award to two individuals selected for their outstanding volunteer service. The award, named in honor of the Gay Games' key founder, Dr. Tom Waddell, recognizes outstanding contributions by individuals to LGBT sports and culture in connection with the Gay Games. The 2006 Gay Games opening ceremony takes place at Chicago's historic Soldier Field on July 15. Nominees should be people who inspire pride through leadership and excellence in sports, culture or volunteerism, who devote energies to the success of the Gay Games and related activities without regard for personal gain, and who personify standards of commitment, selflessness and love of humanity. "People who knew Tom say the award's criteria reflect the way he lived his life," said Charlie Carson, FGG Awards Task Force co-chair. "Past recipients include Paul Mart (1990), a tireless Gay Games promoter, and Rikki Streicher (1994), a leader in San Francisco's women's community. Both Paul and Rikki were key figures during the Gay Games' early years. In 2002, New Zealand native Stuart Borrie was honored for his work for Sydney's Gay Games VI." Nominations are now open for this year's Tom Waddell Award. The online nomination form can be found on the Federation of Gay Games Web site at www.Gaygames.com. This year's nomination deadline is Saturday, April 15. "The Tom Waddell Award recipients represent the thousands of dedicated volunteers around the world who support the Gay Games principles of 'Participation, Inclusion and Personal Best,'" Carson said. "If you know someone who has worked to organize a team, a city or national group, or who has worked as a volunteer for either cultural or sports activities connected with the Gay Games, we encourage you to honor that person by submitting the nomination form." The direct link on the FGG Web site to the 2006 Tom Waddell Award nomination form is www.Gaygames.com/en/participants/awards. Forms can be e-mailed to awards@Gaygames.org. To fax from within North America, use 1-800-877-1373; from outside North America, use +1-419-821-6589. The address via regular mail is: Federation Awards Task Force, 584 Castro Street - PMB 343, San Francisco, CA 94114-2594 USA. Dr. Tom Waddell was the founder and president of the San Francisco Arts & Athletics organization that presented Gay Games I in 1982 and Gay Games II in 1986. He was a visionary who embraced athletics and the idea of a Gay Games as a celebration of the Gay and Lesbian community, as a showcase of athletic talent, a chance to openly compete, and an opportunity to be free. A talented athlete through his college years, he continued training while serving in the army and qualified for the decathlon on the U.S. Olympic team that competed in Mexico City in 1968. He was thrilled to finished sixth with a personal best effort. He later attended Stanford University Medical School and became an internist in San Francisco. In 1980, he worked with Paul Mart and Mark Brown to plan and organize the concept of a Gay multi-sport event that afforded the opportunity for all athletes to participate regardless of skill, ability, race or sexual orientation. Following a highly publicized bout with AIDS, Tom died in 1987. He is survived by his wife, Sara Waddell-Lewinstein, and their daughter, Jessica Waddell-Lewinstein. His biography, "Gay Olympian," was co-written with journalist Dick Schaap and published in 1996 (Alfred A. Knopf). The Tom Waddell Award was first presented at Gay Games III in 1990 to Gay Games co-founder Paul Mart of Palm Springs, California and Melbourne, Australia. Subsequent recipients were San Francisco women's community leader Rikki Streicher (1994), Team New York leader Ruth Gursky (1998), New Zealander Stuart Borrie, who was part of the entire Sydney 2002 Gay Games organizing effort from the initial bid in 1997 (2002), and longtime Federation of Gay Games board member and Team San Francisco leader Susan Kennedy (2002). For a list of all finalists over the years and more information about the Tom Waddell Award, go to www.Gaygames.com/en/participants/awards. The Federation of Gay Games is the international governing body that perpetuates the quadrennial Gay Games and promotes the event's founding principles of "Participation, Inclusion and Personal Best."" The Gay Games was conceived by Dr. Tom Waddell, an Olympic decathlete, and was first held in San Francisco in 1982 with 1,350 participants. Subsequent Gay Games were held in San Francisco (1986; 3,500 participants), Vancouver (1990; 7,300 participants), New York (1994; 12,500 participants), Amsterdam (1998; 13,000 participants), and Sydney (2002; 11,000 participants). Gay Games VII Sports and Cultural Festival will take place in Chicago from July 15-22, 2006. Over 12,000 athletes from more than 100 countries will compete in 30 sports ranging from softball to dance sport, swimming to tennis. The weeklong event will include band, cheerleading and color guard performances, chorus, an ancillary arts festival, and a series of community-organized social events and parties. The opening ceremony is scheduled for July 15 at Soldier Field, the lakefront home stadium of American-style football's Chicago Bears. Closing ceremony will be July 22 at Wrigley Field, the home of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs, located in the heart of Chicago's largest LGBT neighborhood. For the first time, the Gay Games in Chicago will receive widespread television coverage on the Q Television Network. Global sponsors of Gay Games VII include PlanetOut/Gay.com; Q Television Network; Walgreens; Centaur Entertainment; The New York Times; Fleishman Hillard International Communications; Orbitz; Sydney New Mardi Gras; Chicago Sun-Times; Olivia Cruises & Resorts; Lambda Legal Defense; McKnight Kurland Baccelli; Human Rights Campaign; Chicago Free Press; Mate, Genre, Pink and Girlfriends Magazines; Windy City Media Group; and more than 120 business sponsors. "Gay Games", "Federation of Gay Games", the interlocking circles device, and the phrase "Participation, Inclusion and Personal Best" are trademarks of the Federation of Gay Games, Inc. Trademarks are registered in the USA, Canada, Benelux, the UK, and Australia. A Gay Games press release