Rising Australian A-League soccer star Josh Cavallo announced to the world that he is gay and is being hailed as the first top-flight professional soccer player to publicly do so.
“Hi, everyone,” he said in a video posted on Twitter. “It’s Josh Cavallo here. I’m at my home here in Adelaide. There’s something personal that I need to share with everyone. I’m a footballer and I’m gay.”
The 27-year-old who plays left back and central midfielder for the Adelaide United soccer team in the country’s A-League, the highest level of professional soccer in Australia and New Zealand, recently signed a long-term contract with the team after a successful short stint where he started 15 games, made 18 overall appearances, and was chosen as the team’s rising star for the season.
https://twitter.com/JoshuaCavallo/status/1453240548404367370
Despite the honor, Cavallo felt conflicted and distraught.
In a statement posted to 10Play, he said, “I remember coming back from the Awards Night and my phone was blowing up. There was lots of positivity happening in my life, but when I got home, I just felt numb. I had no emotions. My life was great, but it wasn’t a life where I got to be my authentic self. Instead of celebrating, I sat in my bed crying that night. Having to constantly lie to the people I cared about wasn’t the way I wanted to live the rest of my life. My double life started to have a huge influence on my mental health. Although the football was amazing, I still wasn’t happy.”
Cavallo continued by saying how Adelaide United had become a second family, with the coaches becoming “fatherly figures” and his teammates becoming brothers. However, he felt he could not get too close to his second family for fear they would find out his secret.
— Josh Cavallo (@JoshuaCavallo) October 27, 2021
He also feared that coming out would show weakness.
“I had to learn to live a life of lies,” he explained. “To live that double life and lie to your brothers is horrible. It’s something I don’t want anyone to experience.”
In the video, Cavallo opens up about how he felt the need to hide himself while growing up because he was ashamed.
https://twitter.com/JoshuaCavallo/status/1437277318804754433
“All I want to do is play football and be treated equally,” he said. “I thought that people would think of me differently when they found out. They would start treating me differently, they would start saying bad things about me or making fun out of me.
Cavallo quickly found out that was not the case and finally realized the true meaning of strength and respect. He described the response and support he has received from his teammates, fans, friends, and family as “immense” and making him question why he didn’t come out sooner.
The young star hopes his example will “inspire and show people that it’s okay to be yourself and play football. It’s okay to be gay and to play football.”
en hora buena, eres un valiente y adelantarte, un abrazo ,
Thanks for the article, I had no idea he was gay , another cute one to add to the list 🙂
Well done Josh