From Brighton to San Francisco to Sydney, this trio of short sporty docs takes a sweaty look inside the traditionally macho and homophobic worlds of soccer and rugby to see what happens when gay athletes create their own teams and leagues.

Justin dir Ian McDonald 2010 UK 30 min

Justin Fashanu, the first openly gay professional U.K. footballer committed suicide in 1998. A decade later, the Justin Campaign against homophobia in soccer is kicked off and friends and members of the gay Brighton Bandits examine how racism and homophobia drove Justin to take his own life.

Beyond the Team dir Tim Kulikowski 2012 USA 15 min

Take a peek inside the lives of the members of the San Francisco Spikes Soccer Club and see how they developed a deep sense of gay community, friendship and extended family on and off of the field.

Sydney Convicts dir Dirk Kienig 2010 Germany & Australia 45 min

The Sydney Convicts Rugby Union is as tough as other Australian team; the only difference is it’s an all-gay male squad. In just 45-minutes, you get an incredibly intimate insight into the players’ lives—and a brilliant look around many parts of Sydney. Rugby is not a game for the faint-hearted. In very flattering shorts, players carb-up before practice, seriously work out in the gym, box, run sprints up and down stairs and at the beach, strategize about the game with each other, cross-train, do major ab work and the pre-game “squeeze”. Interviews with team members are surprisingly candid, well thought out and engaging.

— KEVIN SCHAUB