The Review

Issue date: 4/10/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Courtesy of Lauren Stephenson Senior track and cross country runner Lauren Stephenson came out to her teammates freshman year and called it "an extremely positive experience."

In the spring of 2003, Andrea Zimbardi was in a position that most college softball players can only dream about: she and the rest of the University of Florida Gators were on their way to qualifying for the NCAA playoffs. Zimbardi, the team's Southeastern Conference honor roll catcher, was a senior and a captain, a former walk-on that had battled through two knee surgeries to win the respect and affection of her teammates.

Zimbardi's senior season would be short-lived, however. She was kicked off the team in March of that year after her coach, Karen Johns, alleged that Zimbardi had started rumors about an assistant coach and about the program. The real reason she was booted from the squad, Zimbardi suspected, was because she was a lesbian. Outcast as a pariah by the devoutly Christian coach, she could only watch from the Gainesville grandstands as her team advanced in the playoffs without her.

Two years, a school settlement and coaching change later, Zimbardi - who came to the university last April to speak about her experiences - has put the past behind her. But her case lingers as a reminder of the hardships that gay athletes continue to face in the 21st century.

While a flurry of gay male athletes have made headlines over the past few years, most notably the mid-February announcement by former NBA player John Amaechi, there have been fewer publicized cases of female athletes coming out. Many of those have been tennis stars, perhaps the most famous examples being Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova in the early 1980s.

However, for one Delaware athlete, the recent gay revelation of current tennis great Amelie Mauresmo has proved to be inspirational. Senior track and cross country runner Lauren Stephenson views Mauresmo as a personal hero.

"Here is Amelie Mauresmo, the former No. 1 tennis player in the world, and she's tough and muscular," says Stephenson. "And one of her competitors, Maria Sharapova, is about to face her and accuses Mauresmo of being a man when she played, but she stayed strong and did not let it affect her game."

Continued...

Page 1 of 4 next >

Article Tools