Jefferson Hagen / MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – It was like a great weight lifted off his shoulders when MacEwan men's volleyball libero Andre Arsenault came out as a gay student-athlete.
In high school at Edmonton's Jasper Place, he let a few close friends know, but it wasn't until his first season on the Medicine Hat Rattlers in 2014 that he decided to be who he is publicly and make his teammates aware.
"I know for myself, it alleviates a lot of weight and a lot of tension," he said of the decision, which was met with support from the Rattlers.
"There was a zero-tolerance thing for (any bullying) behavior. If you deserve to be on this team, you're a family. Your sexual orientation shouldn't be a part of that."
Later this month, in Colorado, he'll have an opportunity to speak about his journey in front of a large audience of NCAA athletes and coaches at the 2017 Outsports Reunion, set for June 15-19 as part of Denver Pride Week. He is being flown down by SBNation, the umbrella blog platform which includes Outsports.
"It's going to be nice to (meet with) the existing NCAA athletes who are so successful," said Arsenault, who is the only university athlete north of the border speaking.
"We don't have anything like this in Canada. So, this is probably going to be that catalyst that starts having this type of LBGTQ inclusion in future years."
That level of inclusion hasn't always been so pervasive for LBGTQ athletes, but Arsenault has noticed a shift towards the opportunity that every other athlete gets: If you are good enough at your sport, you deserve to be on the team.
And he certainly does. Arsenault etched his name in the Rattlers' record book with the most digs in a season (296, including playoffs) during the 2015-16 campaign.
He was named to the ACAC All-Conference for both seasons there, and garnered CCAA Academic All Canadian honours twice, as well. Despite only playing two seasons in the college loop, he's among the career digs leaders in ACAC men's volleyball history.
And his success has carried over into the Canada West conference. After transferring to the Griffins in 2016, Arsenault, in his first season, established a MacEwan Canada West record for most digs/set in a campaign (2.15). Additionally, his 19 digs against Calgary on Jan. 13, 2017 tied for the second-most in the program's Canada West history.
Would he have had that chance as an openly gay athlete even just a decade ago? It might have been touch and go.
"Even if we were to look 10 years ago, athletes would have been cut from teams for being gay because coaches didn't want to deal with the waves of chaos it might cause amongst the team," he said. "A lot of them feel they have to change their coaching style to accommodate or think we need special accommodation.
"Nowadays, I think we're moving in a direction where they're no longer looking at our sexuality as a flaw or some kind of detriment to our roster. Now, it's 'if this kid can play, let them play, despite their sexuality.' That's massive," he added.
"It sounds incredibly simple – you're good at a sport, you deserve to be on a team. But I think the more educated coaches become on how to work these athletes into their program, how other athletes can work with those athletes to help include them … That's exactly what this Out Sports reunion is doing – letting coaches know how to incorporate an LBGTQ athlete into their system."
Arsenault, who also plans to attend (but not march in) the Edmonton Pride parade this Saturday (11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Whyte Avenue), has personally seen a shift in attitudes happen on the Griffins.
"There's a lot of guys on our team who weren't really tolerant of it before, but after the season, maybe the top three (of those) are my three closest friends now. It's interesting how that shift was made over the season," said Arsenault, who ended the campaign in not only a leadership role on the Griffins men's volleyball team, but also amongst his fellow student-athletes when he stepped up to emcee the annual MacEwan Athletics banquet.
"I've seen the growth happen. There are a couple of athletes I know who are playing professional volleyball who've come out of the closet," he continued. "They've even said once that barrier's lifted, there's just this intangible sensation that comes with it – you're free, essentially."
