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Gay
hockey takes Madison by storm
By
Ross Forman
 Welcome
to the home of the 2006 NCAA champion men's hockey team, the
2006 NCAA champion women's hockey team and, arguably, one of
the most successful LGBT sporting project of 2006. It too is
hockey-related, of course.
The
Madison Gay Hockey Association (MGHA) launched this fall
and clearly is a slapshot success, the nation's largest
launch ever of a gay hockey league, perhaps the biggest
worldwide.
The MGHA
made its on-ice debut in October with about 60 skaters. They
started with instructional clinics, built into weekly games
and now anxiously await the Gala Championship Celebration,
set for Feb. 18 at the Madison Ice Arena.
"From day
one, I've wanted people to use this league as something that
will help improve the quality of their lives, in terms of
community service, inter-personal growth, social
alternative, etcetera," said league founder and organizer
Patrick Farabaugh, 29, a former New Yorker who grew up in
Merrillville, Ind., and now works locally as a bartender.
"We're
offering people an opportunity to again play sports, and
we've had people jump on board to basically say that, just
because I'm gay doesn't mean I'm not allowed to play hockey.
"The league
has already developed into one of the premiere gay sports
groups in the city."
The MGHA is
a Sunday-night sporting outlet for a load for hockey
rookies. Of the league's skaters, only about 10 had some
form of advanced hockey training before the mid-October
introduction. There are guys, girls, students, pilots,
bodyguards and even local celebrities playing.
They were
divided into four teams, each simply known by the color of
their jersey: Black, red, grey and teal.
Farabaugh
conceived the plan when he arrived in town almost two years
ago, and hatched his plan after being motivated by the
friendship and sportsmanship he watched last summer in
Chicago at Gay Games VII.
Farabaugh
had played on multiple teams, often four nights per week, in
New York City, which is one of the nation's best-run gay
hockey leagues. At times, he'd play two games in one New
York night.
But there
was no gay hockey in Madison when he arrived.
"I was into
sports as a kid until I started to identify my sexuality,
and then I became really uncomfortable around my peers and
withdrew from sports," Farabaugh said. "When I heard about
the New York league, it was like a shining light and I
basically ran to it, even though I didn't know anything
about hockey.
"I was
attracted to it more for the community and because hockey
became a bridge-sport for me, merging sports and the LGBT
lifestyle."
He played
in New York from 2002 to 2005, and then admittedly got
"frustrated" with no gay hockey in his new home of
Wisconsin.
"I just
figured, if it doesn't exist, I'll have to make it," said
Farabaugh, who wisely used his position as a bartender to
help spread the word.
"I went to
the Gay Games in Chicago and it was like a breath of fresh
air, seeing so many familiar faces, sort of like a
fraternity."
Farabaugh
has hooked several key sponsors for the MGHA, including a
local bar, a floral shop, a doctor and The Patane
Foundation, which is a national non-profit organization
started by former Real World cast member Joe Patane. The
charity provides support for youth leadership, counseling,
media literacy, education, and technology initiatives
worldwide.
The MGHA is
an 18-week project, culminating with a championship game.
The first five weeks were skills clinics, player evaluations
and scrimmages.
"What's
really cool is the role that the experienced players took;
everyone was helping everyone. We're teaching each other,
helping each other learn about the sport," Farabaugh said.
In its
sixth week of play, the MGHA continued with its fundamental
skills' clinics but also started round-robin play, with
games running 45 minutes.
The final
third of the MGHA's rookie 18-week run expands to 60-minute
games.
"The city
is really getting behind it," Farabaugh said.
 Mitch
Weber, an openly-gay local ABC TV on-air talent, is a member
of the MGHA board of directors and a player. The league also
has players carpool into town from Green Bay, Milwaukee and
the Wisconsin Dells, among other places.
The league
even has a few straight players, including Angie Sadowski,
who's teammates with her gay brother, Mark.
The player
fee is only $150 which, by traditional ice standards,
especially for an 18-week season, is incredibly low. And the
host pro shop arranged for a special $200 package of all new
equipment for anyone who needed it, including skates and a
bag.
"I look at
this league as a constructive peer mentoring group,"
Farabaugh said proudly.
Hence, the
MGHA established a scholarship program to aide a player who
wants to compete this upcoming summer in the annual Chelsea
Challenge, hosted by the New York City Gay Hockey
Association, Farabaugh's former group.
To be
eligible, MGHA members must write an introspective essay
titled, 'What Gay Hockey Means to Me.'
"Hockey
offers me many things: community, identity and confidence.
I'm sure it does for others, too," Farabaugh said.
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