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— Olivia Carnevale Nebraska News Service
LINCOLN — Cece Villa watches her home nation, the United States, compete in the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
She sees herself in the American players. She sees herself in the Australian players. She sees herself in the English players. In the sport’s most prestigious tournament, she sees herself everywhere.
According to the Associated Press, 13% of the players who represented their nations in Australia and New Zealand last summer were out, accounting for 95 of the 736 participants. This Women’s World Cup also featured the first openly trans and non-binary player, as well as individual players sporting rainbow nails and hairstyles.
Nebraska sophomore goalkeeper, Cece Villa, is an out athlete on the collegiate level and feels the magnitude of the high international representation at the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
“That’s so much,” Villa said, “I don’t know, even just hearing that now, that makes me super happy for the future of sports and the fact that they were comfortable enough to be themselves and show that side of them fully and beautifully and in another country is massive.”
Out players at this Women’s World Cup weren’t just showing representation on the field, however. Many showcased displays of affection for their partners before and after games, including two of Villa’s favorite players, Australian forward Sam Kerr and American midfielder Kristie Mewis.
“They’re two different countries’ stars and they’re still together and not afraid to show that,” said the Nebraska goalkeeper, “And so on a world level, that’s even more mind blowing that it’s an opportunity for those athletes to show.”
But Villa hasn’t always been able to feel so positive and represented in her sexuality.
Growing up in Altoona, Iowa and attending a Catholic high School, Villa found it difficult to find a community for herself and ventured to Des Moines.
“Would my town have ever had Pride? No,” said the Iowa native, “but Des Moines is definitely much more of a community and space.”
As she made her way to Nebraska, Villa began to create positive representation around her, including the Nebraska chapter of Athlete Ally. An organization that, according to its Instagram, has collaborated with over 100 professional sports teams and collegiate athletic departments to raise awareness about LGBTQ+ issues in sports.
This includes creating campus chapters that are run by and for student athletes.
“The whole point of Athlete Ally is to educate and reduce discrimination of transgender and queer athletes,” Villa said. “And so our chapter here at Nebraska, we do a lot of education, whether that’s for staff or athletes, and we’re trying to do more and more this year considering we only started in January.”
Villa hasn’t been able to do this on her own. Other members who are key in Nebraska Athlete Ally’s development are Nebraska women’s tennis player Isabel Adrover Gallego, and Samuel Phillips, a senior on the men’s gymnastics team.
Phillips is also the lone male representation in the chapter and uses his position to expand Nebraska Athlete Ally’s reach within the LGBTQ+ community.
“I can be the defender and I can be the shield for this community, and I can represent them on the stage and have a seat at the table,” he said, “and constantly to use my voice, put them at the table and put them in the eyes in the ears, in the mouths of admin and staff.”
Aside from being the voice for out student athletes on campus, one of the chapter’s major goals is to increase ally involvement.
“We have a couple of people who came in and they’re there to support us and it’s just really nice to see that growing and just not people that part of the community, but allies too, we want to increment that,” Adrover Gallego said,” especially because it’s great to fight for your rights,but it’s great to fight for your rights with someone that’s helping you to and who wants to understand what you’re going through and just support you in any way possible.”
Villa hasn’t only worked to further representation on campus, but has finally been able to find a community for herself in Nebraska Athlete Ally.
“It has definitely provided me with a community that I never thought I would have here,” Villa said, “especially in the athletic department.”
Phillips has also found the chapter serves a communityrole for him after coming out in college.
“It really stuck out to me, that need and sense of belonging, once I did come out here in a state and in a place like Nebraska where the representation is very low,” said the Los Angeles native.
“There’s a lot of toxic masculinity that goes on in men’s sports at the college level and just in general. So that was also a struggle, and when I really got face to face with it, I feel like that’s when I knew that I needed a group to have.”
Adrover Gallego echoed similar sentiments after coming to Nebraska from Spain.
“It’s a safe space for us,” said the master’s student, “We’re just a community and we talk about anything that’s happened to us and we’re really open with each other.”
Villa was also able to further broaden her community and positive representation through the university’s former We Are Nebraska program.
The internship program served over 50 students over a four-year span by having them share personal stories to the community through applied improv.
Villa was eager to get involved in the program after a class extra credit assignment led to her a show.She finally had an opportunity to partake in her love of public speaking.
“That’s something I’ve always loved, weirdly enough,” said Villa, “Growing up if you’d asked me what my dream job was, I would have said a public speaker, which is so weird. I would have loved to travel the world and just tell people stories.”
Sharing her story about growing up as an out studentathlete in Iowa was something Villa was comfortable doing with another community she felt welcome in.
“I love the fact that it was just 10 people being so vulnerable and telling their stories. And the fact that it was a group of 10 completely different people, I thought that was so, so cool,” the sophomore recalled.
Villa’s We Are Nebraska mentor aided her along her journey of sharing her story to the community.
“She does a really good job of helping create an environment that you feel comfortable to get vulnerable in,” she said, “And it’s not pushing you out of your comfort zone so much that you’re falling off a cliff, it’s pushing you off your comfort zone enough that she can catch you and hold you there.”
The mentor who pushed her just enough out of her comfort zone was Julie Uribe, an Emmy award-winning producer with over 25 years of experience in television. Uribe was the director of the We Are Nebraska program all four years and was able to create comfortability among interns by focusing on one major principle: vulnerability with boundaries.
“When we’re on a public stage, just because you want to be vulnerable and a great leader, you don’t have to tell every detail of your story,” Uribe said, “there’s a way to tell personal stories that allows the speakers achieve vulnerability, but with boundaries that make them feel safe and comfortable.”
