ABSTRACT
In the summers of 2011–14, I returned to visit a Southern California high-school cross-country team I had coached in 1990. Composed of forty-three members, the team has Korean, Chinese, Caucasian, Mexican, Egyptian and African-American athletes; alongside atheists, and those of the Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Mormon and Muslim faith, and a coach who is a Jehovah’s Witness. One team member wears black every day and sports half a dozen piercings, while another wears preppy clothes and does ballet. Two have been voted the school’s homecoming King in the last few years, several play musical instruments to a high standard or are in bands, and some of the athletes maintain high grade point averages while others maintain grades just sufficient to compete. One was arrested for breaking into a school and stealing computers and a few are Eagle Scouts. Some have special social, educational or physical needs, and others maintain high social, athletic, or sexual capital. Perhaps most significantly, there are two openly gay male athletes, and another publicly declares that he will just fall in love with whomever he falls in love.
