Pop culture would have you believe that to succeed, you have to choose an identity and stick with it. You can be a jock or a nerd or a hiker or a homebody — but not a combination. Of course, in real life people are more nuanced than that.
This is certainly true of several leaders in the local sports community who champion inclusivity. In their groups, everyone is welcome, regardless of athletic ability, experience, or whether they align with the stereotype of what an athlete should look like.
All Richard Cumelis wanted to do was get outside and hike. But the hiking clubs he’d found in the valley catered to the physically fit. Cumelis’s motivation for mountaineering was “to get off the couch,” but he says he was told by one hiking group that he needed to lose weight if he wanted to hit the trails with them again.
“They were rude, actually,” he says.
So Cumelis launched his own group in 2014. This one, he decided, would be open to anyone looking to get outside and be active, even if they weren’t in the greatest shape. Even if they’d never been hiking before. And even if they, like Cumelis, were overweight. He named the group Las Vegas Overweight Hikers for Health (OHH for short). While he’s gotten a lot of compliments on the group’s name, it can be a bit of a misnomer, as being overweight is not a prerequisite to participate.
“Most of the people in the group are not overweight,” Cumelis says. “But they feel safe when they see the name.”
Some of OHH’s members are elderly or recovering from injuries or simply looking to take their time on the trail so that they can stop and take nature photos. They appreciate the slower pace. It also helps that Cumelis, who leads many of the hikes himself, is not a stereotypical hiker. “I’m 330 pounds, and the fact that I lead hikes gives people comfort, as well,” he says.
The group’s leadership team (Cumelis has since steppd down) typically host three or four hikes a week. With more than 5,000 members, OHH is now among Sothern Nevada’s largest hiking groups.
Thirty-six-year-old Erick Papas is an athlete who has been practicing martial arts “since Rumble in the Bronx came out” in 1995 and he saw Jackie Chan jump off a building. But he’s also a self-proclaimed nerd who loves anime, and for the longest time he couldn’t find a group in Las Vegas that catered to people enthusiastic about both sports and pop fandoms.
“There are a lot of nerd groups, but there are not a lot of nerd groups who like to stay active,” he says. “I wanted to make a space for that for people who want to talk about Babylon 5 and Star Wars and anything in between.” Papas started the meetup group Fit Nerdz in 2020.
Fit Nerdz meets weekly to practice a “hodgepodge” of martial arts, including karate, boxing, and Brazilian jujitsu. As membership expands, Papas hopes people who have other athletic backgrounds and interests, such as hiking or rock climbing, will join. He doesn’t want to limit the group, saying that all fandoms are welcome, as well as any activity that “gets people out and active.”
So far, the group has been a success, with more experienced martial artists helping to coach those who have little or no experience.
“Everyone is very positive and giving of themselves,” he says.
Starr Hoffman is the co-city manager of the Las Vegas chapter of Outloud Sports, a national LGBTQIA+ recreation league. She’s also a pink-haired librarian at UNLV, and, by her own admission, not particularly sporty. Growing up in Central Texas, her only experience with team athletics was a short-lived stint in a youth softball league.
“My team was called The Kittens, and we played like it,” she recalls, laughing. “I was the short, shrimpy kid and was always picked last for sports.”
But during COVID, isolated in her apartment and newly divorced, Hoffman longed to connect with a community. Although she’d never considered herself an athlete, when she discovered OutLoud Sports was looking for people to play on a kickball team, she figured she’d give it a try.
She loved it.
Soon the group became a lifeline. Although OutLoud has its share of competitive athletes, Hoffman liked that it’s a judgment-free zone. It is “open to everyone, regardless of sexuality, gender, status, skill, shape, size, or age,” its website states.
While kickball hasn’t made her a better athlete, it’s made her a more knowledgeable one. She now enjoys watching sports such as baseball more because she can understand and appreciate the strategy behind the plays.
Hoffman became co-city manager in 2021, and she oversees a roster of sports that include kickball, sand volleyball, cornhole, and billiards.
And yes, she sees the irony in the situation: “I never would have guessed in my 40s that I’d be leading this community sports league.”
