Professional soccer players coming out
By: Devin Randall
Former professional soccer player Adam McCabe has recently come out of the closet. The athlete is known for playing in England for three and a half years, in Thailand for six months, and in Slovakia for another six months (as well as for playing with his university team at Vassar College).
At the moment, McCabe balances working as a model with working with the Georgia Revolution out in Atlanta. In addition, now that McCabe is currently playing with a semi-professional team in the National Premier Soccer League, he’s found it to be the perfect opportunity to publicly come out.
Through Meanwhiler.me, McCabe has expressed his apprehension towards coming out and the relief that he’s found after the fact.
“As a gay athlete your natural instinct is to hide this from your teammates, fans, and coaches. The language that is used during practice, in the locker room, and on the pitch is extremely masculine and at times vulgar. I have heard teammates use homophobic language both in the soccer realm and in daily life. It causes you to really pay attention to your surroundings and debate every action as a closeted athlete.”
“I hope my story and experience can help out individuals along their journey. For anyone who would needs help, guidance, or a friend to talk to, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.”
McCabe even included information about colleagues of his who are paving the way for LGBT Soccer.
“I encourage all of your readers to follow the work of Ryan Adams out of Minnesota. Ryan is beginning to pave the way for a US LGBT national team that will represent the United States at international LGBT sporting events. You can follow them US LGBT Soccer (Facebook) and US LGBT Soccer (Twitter).”
It seems that Adam McCabe’s coming out was remarkable and timely as only a few weeks after his announcement there was talks of an upcoming reveal in the soccer world. It seems that there are talks of several professional soccer players organizing a group coming out.
Less than a year ago Greg Clarke, the leader of the Football Association, was against the idea of athletes coming out of the closet saying that he, “wouldn’t recommend it.” Now it seems that Clarke’s all for it and has even had talks with some unnamed athletes about it, but that’s only if they do it in a specific way.
“I put the message out there that if a number of top-level pros want to come out, why don’t we synchronize it,” Clarke told the Times of London, “So one person doesn’t have to come out on their own.”
Clarke then goes further to say, “The Premier League, the Football League and the FA could do it at the start of the season. At the start of the season everybody thinks it is their season, the crowds are happy, the sun is shining.”
But who are these unnamed athletes that may be coming out? Not much can be found right now, but a month ago Gay Star News reported on a possible lead. the Scottish National Party MP John Nicholson, who’s also a part of the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, shared his belief that there were three British players in talks with the FA about coming out.
Other than that, it seems we’ll have to wait and see. In the mean time, we have McCabe to appreciate.
h/t: Gay Star News
