Golden Nuggets: Layshia Clarendon on Faith and Identity

Field Hockey

In their inaugural season in the America East Conference, the Golden Bears open the season in a three-way tie for second in the West division in the annual field hockey preseason coaches poll, the conference announced Wednesday.

Men's Water Polo

The Golden Bears start the new season with their first practice of 2015.

Softball

A Quartet of Golden Bears Helps Team USA Win Gold On Both The Senior And Junior Levels.

Women's Soccer

Friday night's Top 20 matchup in the 2015 season openers for No. 18 California and No. 19 BYU saw the Bears control the majority of possession, but the Cougars scored a goal in each half to claim a 2-0 victory in the first game of the Outrigger Resorts Classic in Honolulu.

Pure emoting

A video posted by Olivia Munn (@oliviamunn) on Aug 22, 2015 at 3:23am PDT

Men's Basketball

ESPN: The returnees: Welcome back, Cal's Tyrone Wallace

It's easy to become infatuated with the new guys, especially at California, which hasn't exactly been a preferred destination for top 10 players in the country. Especially not two in the same recruiting class, so it's understandable that freshmen wing Jaylen Brown (ranked No. 4 in the ESPN 100) and power forward Ivan Rabb (ranked No. 8) have created such a buzz in Berkeley.

The freshmen are a big reason why the Golden Bears will likely flirt with being a preseason top 10 team and be considered one of the favorites to win the Pac-12 Conference. But they're certainly not the only reason.

Wallace's return is just as important.

The Cal men's basketball built a big lead with a huge second quarter then held off a late rally to improve to 3-0 on its Australian Tour with a 94-86 victory over Australian Center of Excellence on Thursday.

Football

Inside The Lair: Kanawai Noa: Always Looking To Do More

Walking off the field at Kabam Field at California Memorial Stadium, cornerback Darius Allensworth pointed at wide receiver Kanawai Noa and said, "That's my favorite freshman right there."

Playing a position as deep as wide receiver on the Golden Bears' roster in 2015, Noa has a tall order in front of him to make a name for himself with so many experienced and talented players ahead of him on the depth chart. However, that hasn't stopped his coaches and teammates from noticing the good things he's done during training camp, drawing praise from numerous players and coaches besides Allensworth.

"Kanawai is my favorite freshman because he works hard and he does what the coaches tell him to do," Allensworth said. "I can see him on the field translating what he's learned in the 7-on-7 drills. When I was guarding him, he made a move on me that I haven't seen before, and he beat me to the ball. He's getting better every day. He's a hard worker, and that's what we need."

Arizona Daily Star: Pac-12 preview: Cal hoping to break through behind QB Goff

It has been a while since Cal felt relevant.

From 2003 to 2009, Jeff Tedford had the Golden Bears in a good place. The Golden Bears played in seven consecutive bowl games with names like Aaron Rodgers, Marshawn Lynch, J.J. Arrington and DeSean Jackson.

They hit a lull in 2010, missing a bowl game and finishing 5-7. Tedford was out of a job two years later.

Enter Sonny Dykes, a former Arizona assistant and Louisiana Tech head coach.

So far, it has been a slow build. The first year of the Dykes era in 2013 wasn't pretty — one win in 12 games, zero in conference.

In Year 2, though, Cal was oh-so-close.

The Bears were one Hail Mary against Arizona, or one interception against UCLA, away from a bowl game.

Now, success is not being left to the imagination. This season, it's expected.

Layshia Clarendon

No analysis. Layshia's words can speak for themselves.

Arian Foster doesn't believe in God.

I do.

We could easily fit into the believer/non-believer binary that religion has constructed over time; a Christian praying for the soul of the faithless and the godless rebuking salvation. There should be tension between us. I should be defensive about my faith when he criticizes Christianity. But I feel more of a kinship with him than most of my fellow believers.

We're both outsiders in the Christian community — two people who don't believe in religion as an institution but who invest in and love Jesus' teachings; Arian, the Agnostic, and me, the Believer, both driven away by Christianity's exclusivity. We're the same yet different all at once — religious rebels who are forced aside as they look in on the Christian majority.

I identify as black, gay, female, non-cisgender and Christian. I am an outsider even on the inside of every community to which I belong. My very existence challenges every racial, sexual, gender and religious barrier.

...

I struggled for two years with the tension between those two things: faith and sexuality. Do I live honestly, knowing that my sexuality isn't something I chose but rather an innate detail of who I am? And if I do, what does that mean for my relationship with God? Those two years were full of turmoil. The shame and fear attached to being LGBT are like nothing else I've ever experienced. To lay awake at night, wondering if you will forever be punished for something you cannot change, is a dark place. I had just started to experience so many amazing things about God, but now it seemed like perhaps it was all too good to be true.

Like The Way, Cal has always been a safe space for me on this journey. From coaches to athletic directors to support staff, I was given freedom and acceptance to express myself. I was encouraged to bring any significant other I chose to team events, and embraced by fans — Mohawk and all.

I delved into books and sought counsel with my pastor. This turmoil helped me discover God's character: His promise, love, acceptance, call for justice and strict call to righteousness. My constant prayer was, "God, if this is who you created me to be, please just give me peace. A peace that surpasses all understanding."