Having a Ball
Team DC spends a Night Out with the Mystics
In a way, the June 21 Night Out at the Nationals was just a warm-up, with Team DC now running down the court to the July 26 Night Out at the Mystics (assuming they catch their breath after the July 21 Night Out at the Kastles). From baseball to tennis to the Women’s National Basketball Association, Team DC, the local umbrella organization promoting LGBT participation in sports, is on its toes.
Mystics
Small wonder then that the group’s president, Ryan Bos, is partial to fast-moving women’s basketball, even if the July 26 Night Out pitting the Mystics against the San Antonio Silver Stars will mark his first Mystics game.
”I grew up in a very basketball-heavy high school,” Bos says of his Michigan City, Ind., roots, which included trips over to nearby Chicago to watch superstar Michael Jordan shoot for the Bulls. In the process, he developed an appreciation for women’s b-ball. ”Women approach the game more as a team,” he offers. “It’s not about being the one to make the 3-pointers, or hogging the ball.”
Bos grants that women’s basketball is still an easier sell with women than with men, even in a Team DC context. But as long as the enthusiasm is there – and it is, considering Team DC’s initial block of 100 tickets has already sold – fan gender is fairly irrelevant. A game-goer might not even need a diehard love for the game. There’s plenty going on.
First, D.C.’s Different Drummers will precede the game with their signature sounds before treating the audience to their rendition of the national anthem. Olivia Cruises, meanwhile, will offer Team DC attendees a little respite in the Verizon Center’s Acela Club. In all, it promises to be a fun night – and the next stage of the Team DC warm-up ahead of the group’s Sept. 21 United Night Out soccer game.
Team DC’s Night Out at the Mystics is Tuesday, July 26, at 7 p.m. at the Verizon Center. For $15 discounted tickets, visit teamdc.org.
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