Volleyball kickstarted a rather unexpected event for Bates Athletics this year: Pride Night, featuring queer artists’ music, themed shirts, resources for queer attendees and fundraising events for local queer organizations, taking place on Sept. 27 in Alumni Gym during a match against Tufts University.
According to captain Julia Neumann ‘25, the game was a fundraiser for OutMaine. “As well as raising money, we’re also just promoting the game as a way for people to come have a great time,” Neumann said. “If you’ve never been to a volleyball game or an athletics match, this is a great space for you to come to.”
Before the game, both Bates and Tufts were undefeated among NESCAC schools and stakes were high to see who would get their season’s first NESCAC loss. But after four long and tense sets, the Bobcats left the court defeated, 3-1.
That didn’t matter to the packed crowd, populating the stands with parents who’d made long trips up for Back to Bates Parents and Alumni Weekend. After each point for Bates, the air was full of celebratory cheers and sometimes chatter explaining volleyball rules to those unfamiliar. Some parents watched the game alongside their Batesies, taking in some exciting sports before the weekend of Maine activities.
But it was the fundraiser for LGBTQ+ youth during this game that made it unique.
“I really wanted to do something that involved the whole community and wasn’t just athletics-based,” Neumann said. “It started because I was at Pride actually, and I was like, ‘This is so amazing. I want to have something like this at Bates.’ Especially in athletics, historically there hasn’t been a ton of stuff.”
So Neumann, a middle blocker, reached out to volleyball Head Coach Emily Hayes, who was more than excited to try the event out.
“I think that coaches and teams talk about core values all the time, and sometimes they can just become words and not things that are constantly put into practice,” Hayes said. “But I think that our team does an incredible job of using our platform and our voice, obviously, for things that we’re passionate about.”
So, “Julia took the reins,” Hayes said, “and really wanted to make it something special and a big celebration that involved more than just the Bates community.”
Neumann, who is queer, spearheaded the event from the point of view of someone who didn’t grow up with a lot of queer resources. That’s why she decided to involve Out Maine, a local organization that supports LGBTQ+ youth. Neumann said she wanted volleyball to be “an open and welcoming space for [queer youth] too.”
“I want to provide that for kids in Maine and give them something, a space to have, that I never had,” Neumann said. “So that’s why we started working with Out Maine, so that we could have this not only be a fundraiser for them for future programming, but also a beginning entry level way for them to get programming in the Lewiston/Auburn area.”
While this event began with Neumann, she expressed gratitude that her team had adopted it too.
“One of my teammates sprinted up to me and gave me the biggest hug this morning,” Neumann said on the day of the event. “They were all very excited about what this game means to me, and then what it means to our team as a whole, because of what it means to me…Some of my teammates were just screaming at people, ‘Come to the game tonight to support gay youth!’ And I was like, ‘Oh, my God, holy crap.’”
Watching these dynamics unfold, and seeing Neumann kickstart an event that both of them hope to carry on for seasons to come, Hayes said she’s been impressed.
“Not to be cliché, but I have so much pride for our team,” she said. “The back of the shirts say, ‘Come as you are,’ and we’re just we couldn’t be more excited, I think, to have this all in the gym and at Bates.”
Despite the loss, Hayes said Pride Night is just one example of how strong this team truly is.
“Winning is fun and winning is great, but this team is a group of women who are passionate, and they have great relationships with a ton of folks across campus, and I think are just a really, really welcoming group,” Hayes said. “This is bigger than us, and Bates volleyball, we think, is just an incredible program to represent and embody, and then the winning is kind of fun on top of that.”
Citing her own experience coming to college, feeling nervous how people would see her for being queer and how she would fit into the community, Neumann expressed how hopeful she feels for the future of Bates with events like these.
“Obviously our first key value is inclusive,” Neumann said. “So I think that events like these, events that we’ll have in the future, and continuous conversations we have as a team, are going to continue to push our team to be one of the most inclusive groups of people, ever.”
