Windy City profile: Stephen Hewitt

When he was 9, Stephen Hewitt tried out for the Sports Performance Volleyball Club (SPVC) and became the youngest and first boy inducted into a primarily all-girls 12-under program.

He ultimately played at SPVC for nine years, qualifying for the National Tournament when he was 14, 16, and 18.

"I was constantly plagued with injuries and illness in my later years," said Hewitt, now 19 and a Chicago resident in the South Loop. "When I was 16, I severely injured a muscle in my lower back that took me out for weeks and also developed a tendency to pass out from dehydration. When I was 17, my knee began giving out and, [ when ] 18, I injured my hand right before a big tournament in California. In order to keep playing I covered it up and never let it heal properly. I also punctured a hole the size of a quarter in my foot at National's, and [ this fall ] I may have popped a vein or two in my right hand."

Despite the injuries, Hewitt is still driven, motivated to excel. He's weight-training to get back in top shape and focused on the 2010 Gay Games in Cologne, where he will compete in beach volleyball and/or indoor volleyball.

"My [ Gay Games ] goals are to represent myself as a strong competitor/teammate who will help lead my team to [ victory ] ," he said. "I also would like to represent young gay men in sportsmanship, teamwork, drive, and communicability.

"For me, the Gay Games mean an official return to the sport that I built my life around."

Hewitt is now the men's and women's club volleyball coach at Illinois Performance Volleyball, and also a sales associate at Aeropostale. He is single, a 2008 graduate of St. Francis Catholic College Preparatory in Wheaton and now a sophomore at Columbia College in Chicago.

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