About Gay Games VII Gay Games VII Sports and Cultural Festival will take place 15-22 July 2006. Over 12,000 athletes from more than 70 countries will compete in 30 sports ranging from softball to dancesport, 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 15 July at Soldier Field, will feature Will & Grace's Megan Mulally and the gay Icon herself Margaret Cho and Erasures Andy Bell at the lakefront home stadium of American-style football's Chicago Bears. Closing ceremony will be July 22at Wrigley Field, with singing sensation Cyndi Lauper the home of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs, located in the heart of Chicago's largest LGBT neighborhood. Tickets are available online at tickets.gaygameschicago.org. About The Gay Games 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 have been 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). A Brief Look Back In 1980, Dr. Tom Waddell, a 1968 Olympic decathlete, led a group of San Francisco residents including Mark Brown and Paul Mart in conceiving the event now known as the Gay Games. Tom dreamed of a sporting event based on the philosophy that "doing one's personal best should be the paramount goal in any athletic endeavor." San Francisco Arts & Athletics (SFAA) was incorporated and supervised the logistics of both Gay Games I and II. Tom Waddell lost his battle with AIDS and died in July 1987, less than a year after Gay Games II, but his legacy was assured as the inspiration for future Gay Games. The SFAA board of directors, which included Tom's widow Sara Waddell Lewinstein, took steps to enlarge its membership beyond the Bay Area and in 1989 changed its name to the Federation of Gay Games. The Federation Today The Federation of Gay Games perpetuates the quadrennial Gay Games and safeguards its founding principles of Participation, Inclusion, and Personal Best. An all-volunteer organization, the Federation is made up of individuals and organizations representing four continents. Originally a board comprised solely of individual directors, the Federation today is an "organization comprised of organizations": almost 80 percent of the board is comprised of the voting delegates from director organizations.   "Come On Rice!" a mostly gay Asian volleyball team based in New York formed in 2004 and has been quite successful in the last two years. We took first place at tournaments in Baltimore, Boston, Las Vegas, Washington DC, New York, and at the Championship tournament for NAGVA (North American Gay Volleyball Association) in Atlanta this past May Our team members all met at the Gotham volleyball league in New York. Ben Szeto, our captain assembled our team by looking for capable dedicated players who he thought he'd like to be friends with. Most of the team members were relatively new to New York City and Ben saw this as an opportunity to develop a group of friends with common interests. With time, the team self selected themselves for their dedication, competitiveness, and hearty appetites after a hard played tournament. Basically, we are gay, we are Asians and we love volleyball. We have a great time playing, win or lose. We have spirit and spunk. And some people say we're good looking and sexy. After playing in several NAGVA tournaments, we have decided to participate in Gay Games. The challenge of playing against (and of course watching) men from many different countries is exciting. We hope to meet new people and make new friends. And in between matches we're looking forward to relaxing and watching others with great physical and athletic abilities show what they've got! People ask us why we have rentboy.com as our sponsor. The answer is simple. Gay Games is all about inclusion and bringing out your personal best. Rentboy.com consists of hot men from all over the world striving their very best to service their clients. The members of Come On Rice also strive to play at their personal best at every tournament. We are about inclusion as well. We have grown from a 100% Asian team to a team that includes Asians and their friends. And while we are playing the best games we can and having loads of fun on the courts, the rentboys are having loads of fun elsewhere and doing their best. We are all about reaching our personal goals! Are we like the "Asian Iron Ladies" that you've seen in the movie? Do we need to wear make up when we play? Are we a bunch of screaming queens on the court? Come find out and see for yourself. Check out Come on Rice.   Out of the water and onto the pages of their very own calendar, members of the West Hollywood Water Polo team are releasing the 'Men of WEHO POLO' 18 month pin-up calendar. The project was put together as a team fundraiser for the upcoming Gay Games in Chicago this July. The calendar combines sexy and athletic images of the world's premiere BGLTQ water polo team. This program boasts an impressive gold medal count as the defending champs from the Sydney and New York Gay Games Based out of West Hollywood, California the men who make up 'WEHO POLO' are comprised of members from the masters water polo and swimming program. Creating an interesting and successful dichotomy can be contributed to the family like aspects of the WEHO Waterpolo team. Men, Women, Gay and Straight alike are what help to make this program the success that is has been, racking up numerous IGLA and Gay Games gold medals for these post collegiate athletes. New and experienced players, young and older make up what you see in these pages, which guarantees a little something for everyone. Enjoy each month throughout the year with someone you know, or would like to know! You can order your copy of 'Men of WEHO POLO' online at www.wehopolo.com .