From PRATETY to ALCEDO… (1997-2011)
On the way... video here
Organized LGTB activities in the Czech Republic date back to the autumn of 1997, when the SOHO Revue published an ad inviting gay sportsmen to put together the first Czech gay sports team for the upcoming Gay Games. In 1998 over 60 Czech sportsmen and sportswomen attended the Gay Games in Amsterdam and brought home 19 medals. During this first Gay Games appearance, our volleyball team made it to the B+ category finals and won a silver medal.
Our presence at the Amsterdam Gay Games was an impulse for establishing the first LGTB sports club in the Czech Republic. We gave ourselves the name of “Pratety Praha” (“PRA” referring to Prague, “TETY” to a Czech slang word for homosexuals) and we joined a youth sports group in Prague 4. Our volleyball teams became regular participants at various European tournaments, and in 2000 we organized the first Prague Rainbow Spring volleyball tournament, which was very well attended by over 20 European teams.
As time passed, the number of sport disciplines increased. In 2006 badminton and table tennis clubs were established, in 2007 a lesbian volleyball team Rainbow Absence was created, and in 2008 the first aerobics club was put together. In 2009 swimmers from Aquamen joined us, as did squash players; and as of 2011 there is also a cycling and outdoor sports club.
Our sportsmen and sportswomen have won medals in many World and European tournaments (between 1998 and 2011 volleyball teams alone brought back 9 medals from Gay/Eurogames – our last medal came from Rotterdam’s 2011 Eurogames in the B+ category). This year Prague Rainbow Spring celebrated its 12th anniversary tournament with 450 sportsmen participating in five sports disciplines.
Since 1997 Pratety has changed in many ways: from a single sport we have grown to six; our membership has increased several times; acceptance and perception of the LGTB community by the general public have positively improved. At the same time, our internal structure and the club’s concealment within a youth sports club have become outdated. Our members showed a strong will for Pratety to “come-out” and become an openly gay sports club, supporting LGTB sport at home and abroad. In April this year we established a working group whose main task was to prepare new statutes for the club reflecting these aspirations. In June the statutes were endorsed by our members and in August we officially submitted the new statutes for registration at the Czech Ministry of Interior.
A new, independent sports club that will start its activities in September 2011 will be called ALCEDO Praha (“Alcedo” being a Latin name for a rainbow colored kingfisher). By this public announcement ALCEDO Praha wants to openly declare its link to Pratety’s 14-year history and to build on its previous activities. We will:
- promote and develop LGTB sport at home and abroad
- publicly acknowledge being and openly act as an LGTB organization
- cooperate with other LGTB organizations
- continue to run Prague Rainbow Spring and other activities that Pratety Praha took part in the
Europe, here we come! Girls and guys from Prague – ALCEDO Praha