Joe Cooper
Induction Year: 2023
What Impact has Summit had on your life?
The Summit organization has been an incredibly important part of my life for the last 16 years, and the Summit is a second family to me. Through my experiences with the Summit, I have learned self-confidence, self-worth, leadership skills, how to be a good teammate, and so much more. Without getting sappy, I grew up dealing with the same negative, degrading, debilitating crap that so many gay people do, and at 30 years old I still didn’t know who I was. Then I found the Summit, the DGLFFL, and my love for the sport of flag football, which gave me a place to figure myself out, and I’m so incredibly thankful for that.
What is one of your favorite memories related to Summit?
This is an easy choice. In Gay Bowl Hawaii, at the end of the championship game, our offense had just marched down the field to take the lead with 14 seconds left on the clock. Our defense just needed to hold LA for two plays and the title would be ours.
I’d played in 13 Gay Bowls and had never been at this moment and I just couldn’t stand it, so I walked all the way down to the far end of the field to watch by myself. When the defense pulled the last flag, and the official signaled the game was over, the joy of rushing onto the field with what felt like a hundred Denver players and fans, tears of joy, big bear hugs with my teammates and friends, just sheer happiness. Best moment ever.
Message for future summit players:
Getting to play high-level flag football for the Summit is an honor, a privilege, and a commitment to your teammates, so treat it as such. Always be focused on making yourself a better player so that we can all rise together. If you feel you aren’t getting the playing time you deserve or aren’t playing on the team you think you should be, work harder to get better and make leadership’s decisions on where you fit easy. Lastly, the absolute most important thing to always remember is that it’s just gay flag football, so have fun.