CLEVELAND, Ohio -- With more than two years to go before opening ceremonies for the 2014 Gay Games unfold in downtown Cleveland and Akron, organizers of the Games say plans are coming together so smoothly that online registration should open for competitors within the next couple weeks.
More than 30 sports and competitive events -- ranging from track and field to ballroom dancing, martial arts and water sports -- have been listed on the Games' website, www.2014gaygamescleveland.com, so far.
And Thomas Nobbe, executive director of Gay Games 9, said the group already has been inundated with offers to volunteer from as far away as Australia. "These are people who don't even live here who are eager to be a part of it," Nobbe said in an interview Wednesday. "The responses we've received have been overwhelmingly positive about Cleveland as the venue. Our feeling is that we will put on the best Games that have ever been."
The Gay Games, for which Cleveland and Akron were chosen in 2009 as hosts, are expected to draw about 11,000 participants and more than twice that number of spectators, performers and volunteers from around the globe -- potentially pouring tens of millions of dollars into the local economy, Nobbe said.
To accommodate the sporting events, organizers are working to forge contracts with about 35 of what they called "world-class facilities" in the region, including university campuses, Firestone Country Club in Akron and potentially the new Convention Center under construction in downtown Cleveland. Nobbe said the Cleveland games, as well as cultural events and festivals surrounding them, will be located, if possible, near the Healthline bus route down Euclid Avenue. And the event will make the most out of downtown development, including the new casino, hotels and other improvements.
Organizers say they aim to raise $2.1 million along with in-kind donations of equipment or food, and they hope community members would consider opening their homes to host out-of-town participants. The event encourages participation regardless of skill level, age or sexual orientation. And scholarships will be available for competitors who cannot afford registration fees, organizers said.
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