Outsports nominated for Daytime Emmy Award for groundbreaking series on disabled LGBTQ athletes
Ballin' Out tells the stories of several LGBTQ women around Team USA wheelchair basketball. It's nominated for an Emmy. The post Outsports nominated for Daytime Emmy Award for groundbreaking series on disabled LGBTQ athletes appeared first on Outsports.
Mark
The Daytime Emmy Awards released their list of nominees today, and there was a wonderfully unexpected inclusion.
Outsports has been nominated for Outstanding Short Form Program for the 2025 Daytime Emmy Awards for its series, “Ballin’ Out.” It’s one of five nominated short form programs.
“Ballin’ Out” tells the story of several out LGBTQ women in women’s wheelchair basketball. It centers around the tryouts and tournament for Team USA at the 2022 IWBF Wheelchair Basketball World Championships, which were held in Dubai in June of 2023.
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Meet the ‘Ballin Out’ LGBTQ women of Team USA Wheelchair Basketball
There are at least three LGBTQ American athletes and an out coach competing for wheelchair basketball gold at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.
The location of the World Championships — Dubai — is part of the story. Homosexuality is illegal in Dubai, and many of the Team USA players headed there are out as gay. The dilemma is not lost on some of the women, and some make sacrifices to participate in the World Championships in a country where being gay is illegal.
Hall of Fame women’s wheelchair basketball coach Stephanie Wheeler also plays a big role in the series. She won two Paralympics gold medals as a Team USA player and one as the team’s head coach. She’s currently the head coach of the University of Illinois women’s wheelchair basketball team.
“She’s a dynasty,” the current players say of Wheeler. “She’s a legend.”
The project was produced by Scout Productions and directed by Michiel Thomas. It’s the first Emmy nomination for Thomas, who is himself a gay basketball player. He previously produced and directed many projects including the documentary film “Game Face,” which told the story of trans MMA fighter Fallon Fox and gay college basketball player Terrence Clemens.
The 2025 Daytime Emmy Awards will take place on October 17.
You can watch the entire five-part “Ballin’ Out” series on YouTube. Here’s Episode 1:
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The post Outsports nominated for Daytime Emmy Award for groundbreaking series on disabled LGBTQ athletes appeared first on Outsports.
