Volleyball:
Played two seasons at Santa Monica City College
before transferring to Long Beach.
On Gay Games VIII in 2010:
“Sure, without a doubt I’ll compete, though I
don’t know how good I’ll be at that time.”
On the kids he coaches:
“The kids who I coach are wonderful. I’ve gotten
closer to them (since coming out), and that’s
something I was scared about (when I was coming
out.)”
Now appearing:
Was a special guest in May at the Long Beach Gay
Pride Parade. Scheduled for appearances at Gay
Pride events this summer in Atlanta, Kansas City
and Orlando, among others. “I never envisioned
any of this. I never thought I’d be at this
point, at this comfortable level (in the gay
community).”
Could you have been out while
playing in college?:
“I don’t think so. At that time, I don’t think
people were as accepting; people were a little
more ignorant, un-educated. But times have
really changed. If I was in college now, I would
be able to be out, but not back then. Being out
is now becoming not a big deal.”
J.P.
Calderon never envisioned he'd be a volleyball coach,
certainly not for girls and women.
He was, you
see, a player, good enough in the late-1990s to play for
Long Beach State University and even be the team captain as
a senior, leading the 49ers to the NCAA Tournament.
After the
'98 season, Calderon had the opportunity to play
professionally in Barcelona, Spain, yet hadn't completed his
degree. "In my heart, I wanted to travel, to play, to see
the world," he said.
But
ultimately he rejected the overseas offers and stayed at
Long Beach, where he was offered the volunteer assistant
coaching position for the women's team. He also landed a
local club volleyball coaching gig – where he is now in his
ninth season.
Calderon
worked at Long Beach under volleyball coaching legend Brian
Gimmillaro. He was a volunteer assistant for three years,
then a paid, full-time assistant coach for his last two
seasons with the team.
"I was so
fortunate; I was able to be around the best of the best, and
learn from some really great people," he said.
He now
coaches for the Mizuno Long Beach Volleyball Club, and two
of his teams (Under-18s and Under-15s) are the No. 1-ranked
teams in Southern California and will be competing at the
end of June in the 2007 USA Junior Olympic Girls' Volleyball
Championships at the Minneapolis (Minn.) Convention Center.
"I guess
coaching was my calling," said Calderon, who also spent two
years (2004-05) playing on the AVP circuit.
Calderon's
volleyball success – as a player and coach – pale to his
worldwide fame achieved a year ago on
Survivor: Cook Islands.
Calderon
was one of two gay Survivors on the show (along with Brad
Virata), though the sexual orientation of both was never
disclosed on-air. Virata was out during the show; producers
just never revealed it.
Calderon
came out this past February, revealing he is gay on The
Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency (Oxygen Network).
"I don't
live in a stereotypical gay world," said Calderon, 31, who
still lives in Long Beach. "I don't have a lot of gay
friends, just a handful. Sure, I would sneak up to West
Hollywood every now and then to go out, but was always very
closeted and very careful, to prevent from being exposed."
And even
when he worked at a gay bar, he told everyone he was
straight.
Rumors were
rampant about Calderon's sexual orientation during his run
last summer on Survivor. He was ultimately the fourth
Survivor voted off.
"I was
getting to a point in life where I was just hating the lies,
and thus got very depressed and angry because I was wasting
so many years of my life and just couldn't be me," Calderon
said. "I was at a point that, I wanted to be out; I just
didn't know how to come out. The past three months (since
coming out) have been great. All of my fears, everything
that I was scared of … it was the complete the opposite," he
said. "It's been great. All of my friends, the volleyball
world, absolutely everybody has been supportive. No one has
shut me down.
"Some of my
friends even joked, ‘It's about time; we've known for the
longest time.'"
