Seattle's Rain City SC: The world's largest gay and lesbian soccer club

Some were wearing just shorts, others were wearing just shirts and underwear of various kinds. There was also the occasional tutu and of course the sparkling presence of The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Just another day and another soccer match in Seattle, right?

Behind the camera

Last weekend Rain City Soccer Club held their annual shirts v. shorts charity match for the Greater Seattle Business Association's scholarships, and raised over $1,300 in the process. Steve Garrod was there and took some photos he's now sharing with us in the gallery below.

"They do keep score at the event, but the primary focus is fun and fundraising," Steve tells me. I wondered if the players know in advance whether to prepare to play in shirts or shorts. "According to a friend of mine who is one of the players," says Steve, "they were notified pretty close up to the time of the game as to which team they would be on."

Rain City's slogan says it is "the world's largest gay and lesbian soccer club." The club website lists eleven men's teams, three women's teams and two co-ed sides.

"I've not played (in the charity match) myself but have attended a number of Rain City's events such as their Calendar launch parties, etc," Steve mentions. "It's a really fun group and a sport I believe in. I try to do my best to get to the events and photograph for them whey they themselves might not have their cameras handy to capture the moment."

Last year Seattle Soccer Examiner did a feature on the Rain City calendar.

On the pitch

Steve connected me with Andrew Rinke, one of the guys out on the pitch for the charity match. I had the chance to ask Andrew about the event and Rain City Soccer Club.

Rinke played soccer when he was younger, then drifted away from the sport until he moved to the Emerald City. "I have been playing soccer since the 3rd grade, but after high school, I hung up my cleats," he states. "Then, seven years later, I rediscovered my love for soccer and being called a grass fairy (what the football jocks called us soccer boys). I started with RCSC this past February, only three months new to Seattle."

 "Saturday's game was the third time the club put on this event, raising over $1,300 for the Greater Seattle Business Association (GSBA) Scholarship Fund," says Rinke. Andrew, however, was taking it all in for the first time. "This was my first event, but I heard about it when I first started hanging out with the soccer boys as something fun to look forward to. In addition to raising money and having a good time, there is also a certain amount of motivation to hit the gym, underwear boutiques, and costume store."

Finding his tribe

Soccer is still somewhat of a niche sport at the adult level in the United States, and of course being part of a gay club takes one even further from the sporting mainstream. Rinke sees Rain City as an important place to gather, though. "I came from Boulder, Colorado and before that Ann Arbor, Michigan where I was not part of any gay clubs or teams," he recalls. "I thought being gay was only about interacting at bars or brunching throughout the weekend. However, here, while I continue to bar hop and brunch, I've seen the soccer boys are a diverse group who do many things as individuals and as a community."

Rinke feels at home in Seattle, and with his soccer club. "With Rain City, I feel that I found my tribe. We are a collection of people who enjoy soccer, but we also have in common that we are gay. RCSC is important because it gives people an opportunity to comfortably be themselves, especially within sports because being gay can be something athletes try to hide."

Rinke was prepared to be with the shirts, the shorts, or the even shorter shorts for the charity match. "After I got nicknamed "Green Shorts," I really had no option but to wear my green soccer shorts. The only malfunction/lapse in judgment was that I was wearing uncomfortable underwear that would have looked nice had anyone seen them! How vanity clouds sensibility..."

Visit: www.RainCitySoccer.org