Steelers: the World’s First Gay Rugby Club
Eammon Ashton-Atkinson’s documentary Steelers is worth a watch.
Back in 2012 Eamonn, then a TV reporter in Australia, was driving to an interview when overwhelmed by a compulsion to crash the car. He pulled over and phoned his best friend who insisted he go to his doctor.
“I was given antidepressants which helped fight off the black dog chasing me since high school. I used to spend hundreds of sleepless nights wishing the gay away. Finally, it caught up,” says Eamonn.
Outed at his all-male boarding school when a supposed friend posted a video, Eamonn phoned his father to come and get him but then had to return and get through another 18 months to finish his education.
He says: “The kind of bullying that says you are repulsive, disgusting makes you begin to believe it yourself” and, from having enjoyed playing rugby, he bunked off sport because, “in those changing rooms, I copped it the most. I joined the school community group, who organised charity fundraisers, got involved in that and music instead.”
In 2016 he moved to freelance in London for the likes of ITV’s Good Morning Britain before, in 2018, becoming Europe correspondent for Network 10 Australia. His flatmate played for Kings Cross Steelers, as did the only person he knew in London, the friend of a friend. Originally intending to join the club pathway for players new to the game, Eamonn decided to just turn up at training.
“I’d played, had some experience so there I was at my first training session, unfit and overweight. I was a lap behind everybody but they stood there clapping me on. It was a feeling I’ll never forget,” he says. “I didn’t know that a rugby club would change my life, and that would be the world’s first gay club, the Kings Cross Steelers.”
Training twice a week and playing at the weekends, Eamonn was soon giving a good account of himself on the pitch, from second row or Number 8 crashing over the whitewash and becoming a leading try scorer.
“Team mates were patting me on the back and wanting to get to know me at the pub afterwards. Finally, I’d found a place where I belonged. As a bonus, I met and married one of my teammates, John, the funniest and kindest person I know and a great rugby player too.”
Injured for the gay world tournament, the Bingham Cup, Eamonn decided to take his camera to the Amsterdam event and make a documentary about the Steelers.
“I saw that rugby was having a transformative effect on nearly everyone in the club. I’d heard people talk about the power of sport but never believed it until I saw gay people reclaiming their place on the pitch,” he says.
Telling the story
Months of work on the edit were lost, however, and Eamonn decided it just wasn’t meant to be until “Israel Folau began posting ‘hell awaits homosexuals’ on social media. Then I realised I had to tell the story of the club and talking to Simon, one of the players in the film, who’d had similar mental health challenges, I realised that I had to tell my own story too.
“From this single club, there are now 80 gay and inclusive rugby clubs around the world. In the Steelers’ first season, when they sent out invitations to play against teams in Essex, many thought it was an April fool’s joke because the letter was sent around then. Over time the Steelers have won respect because not only do they win on occasion, they’ve showed other teams that we’re all pretty much the same,” he says.
Now Eamonn is based in Washington where earlier this year he was covering the elections, the storming of the Capitol and the Trump impeachment. He’s intending to join one of the local gay teams, the Washington Scandals, when Covid allows. John has a recurring shoulder injury and will be restricted to cheering from the touchline and joining post-match celebrations.
Eamonn’s film has played in festivals across eight countries. When it premiered at the New Zealand international film festival, the All Blacks tweeted the trailer and a teenager messaged him.
“He said he was struggling and getting bullied at school, but my film gave him hope that things get better. That made everything I’d gone through worth it. Despite the bullying, self-doubt and the self-loathing, I’ve learned that if you keep searching for happiness you might find it where you least expect. In my case, it was on the rugby pitch.”
Reviewed in the Guardian and the Sunday Times, and described as "essential viewing for all", Eammon Ashton-Atkinson’s documentary Steelers can be watched anywhere and anytime on Prime Video.
