“Olanrele Oni admits that even though he grew up playing soccer, he was never the best athlete — “A for effort,” he likes to say.
But when he was younger, Oni, who said he always knew he was queer, once suspected his teammates were refusing to pass him the ball on the field because of his sexuality.
“I felt as a little gay kid, I felt self conscious. Is it the way I’m running? Is it the way I’m speaking? Is that playing a role?” Oni said. “You start creating these narratives in your head that may not exist.”
Oni, 37, didn’t start openly identifying as a gay man until his mid-20s; he moved from Nigeria to the U.S. when he was 15 or 16. As a kid who loved playing soccer, he always held part of himself back. Oni said while those challenges were “terrible,” they also hardened him and helped him develop better people skills.
“I just felt robbed of the immersive experience because I never really could be my true self around people. And the thing about it is, people can see that,” Oni said. “They can feel that you’re not really giving yourself completely.”
In 2020, Oni formed the organization he said he wishes he had as a kid: Unmatched Athlete, which, he said, aims to “encourage LGBTQ+ youth and allies between the ages of five and 18 to participate in sports and fitness.”
At Unmatched Athlete, queer kids can find a place to be themselves. The desire for such a space is mirrored in adult LGBTQ+ sports organizations, from large leagues like Queer City Sports and Stonewall Sports to more informal pickup games scattered around Baltimore. Leaders and participants from the organizations all say that finding community supersedes any competitive desires.
Those organizations are made up of adults who, like Oni, may have benefitted from having a space carved out just for them.
“It would have meant so much more to be playing amongst people that identified as queer but also were allies and supported me. It would have made me feel so much more confident in myself,” Oni said. “I just think it would have been a domino effect to so many things that we’ll never know. And I just want to be able to provide that opportunity.”
Oni said Unmatched Athlete has had nearly 200 participants so far. Minors can choose from seven sports, such as flag football and ultimate frisbee. The teams are separated by age but not gender. The organization also offers activities like dances, scavenger hunts and obstacle courses, usually for free and on Saturdays, by partnering with organizations like the Y in Central Maryland and Movement gyms.
