Mark Kendall Bingham Memorial Tournament
Encyclopedia
The Mark Kendall Bingham Memorial Tournament or the Bingham Cup is a biennial international, non-professional, gay rugby union
tournament, first held in 2002. The most recent tournament was held in Minneapolis, Minnesota
, United States
, in 2010.
(IGRAB) as a body to promote rugby union as an all-inclusive non-discriminatory sport which everyone can play, regardless of sexuality.
An informal invitational tournament, held in May 2001, was formally inaugurated by IGRAB as a new international rugby union competition — a gay rugby union world cup — which in a unanimous decision by all the members of IGRAB became known as the Bingham Cup.
The tournament was named after Mark Bingham
, a former University of California, Berkeley
rugby star who had played in the May 2001 tournament for San Francisco Fog RFC and cofounded the Gotham Knights RFC.http://gothamrfc.org/drupal/?q=node/4 Bingham died in the September 11, 2001 attacks
on board United Airlines Flight 93
. According to Jon Barrett of The Advocate
, he is generally accepted to be one of a group of passengers who fought with the hijackers aboard the flight, which eventually led to the hijackers crashing the plane into a vacant field
in Pennsylvania
instead of targets in Washington, D.C.
. At the time of his death, there were around eight gay-inclusive rugby clubs worldwide, and he was helping to create others.
hosted an IGRAB International Invitational for gay rugby union
teams in Washington D.C., USA.
The event was officially a sevens tournament among the existing IGRAB teams at the time. In addition to the tournament, there was an exhibition XVs matches. In the exhibition match between the San Francisco Fog RFC and the Renegades, the two played against each other for the first time in a XVs match. The Fog won 19-0.
The tournament was fashioned in the style of the Rugby World Cup
, both the tournament and the cup prize were named for Mark Kendall Bingham
, a club founder, with the name Bingham Cup later becoming the informal name.
Eight teams traveled to San Francisco during gay pride
weekend of June 28-29 2002 to compete over two days with the Fog coming out on top as the Cup’s first winners.
The event was sponsored by Nike
and Guinness
and was covered by press from around the world, including ESPN
.
The Fog A side emerged undefeated, defeating the London
Kings Cross Steelers
27-5 in the final. Alice Hoglan, Mark Bingham’s mom, presented the Fog with the trophy. The event was profiled in a two-page article in Rugby World magazine.
, England
, club Kings Cross Steelers
. From eight teams just two years prior, twenty teams from four countries were fielded for the 2004 cup, which was won for the second time by the San Francisco Fog RFC.
's Gotham Knights RFC
in October 2004 by the International Gay Rugby Association and Board
and was held on Randall's Island
in New York's East River
on Memorial Day
weekend, May 26-28, 2006. 29 teams from 22 clubs in 6 countries participated.
The tournament field was divided into 3 divisions, the Bingham Cup for the strongest teams, Bingham Bowl and Bingham Plate. 2006 also included the first ever Women's division, with 2 teams entering.
In March 2006, the Bingham Cup Organizing Committee announced that donations would be made to two charities: The Mark Kendall Bingham Leadership Fund, a scholarship established in Bingham's name at the University of California-Berkeley, his alma mater, and the Flight 93 Memorial Fund administered by the National Parks Service to be constructed in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
Over 800 registered participants from 29 teams in nine countries took part in the largest Bingham Cup tournament to date.
Australia
Canada
Ireland
Netherlands
United Kingdom
United States
Teams participating for the first time included the Cardiff Lions, the Phoenix Storm, the Portland Avalanche, the Chicago Dragons, the Amsterdam NOP, and the Minneapolis Mayhem.
The cup final was between reigning champions San Francisco Fog A and the Sydney Convicts A, who won the game 16-10. Boston Ironsides defeated the Dallas Diablos to win the inaugural Bingham Bowl. Sydney Convicts B beat the World Barbarians to win the Bingham Plate. The final standings for the tournament are as follows:
Bingham Cup Division
1) Sydney Convicts A
2) San Francisco Fog A
3) Washington Renegades A
4) Gotham Knights A
5) Seattle Quake
6) Kings Cross Steelers
7) Los Angeles Rebellion
8) Manchester Village Spartans
Bingham Bowl Division
1) Boston Ironsides
2) Dallas Diablos
3) Philadelphia Gryphons
4) Austin Lonestars
5) Chicago Dragons
6) Atlanta Bucks
7) Portland Avalanche
8) Emerald Warriors
Bingham Plate Division
1) Sydney Convicts B
2) World Barbarians
3) Washington Renegades B
4) Gotham Knights B
5) Minneapolis Mayhem
6) Cardiff Lions
7) Phoenix Storm
8) San Francisco Fog B
9) Toronto Muddy York
10) Amsterdam NOP
The 2008 documentary film Walk Like a Man focuses on the Sydney Convicts and San Francisco Fog as they prepare and compete for this Bingham Cup.
to host the 2008 competition in Dublin Ireland
. Other bidding cities included Sydney, Australia, and Paris, France. In addition, Las Vegas, Nevada
, Seattle, Washington
, Cardiff, Wales, and Toronto, Canada also considered bidding to host the 2008 tournament.
The fourth Bingham cup was held in Dublin on the weekend of the 13 -16 June, at Dublin City University
campus. 32 teams competed across four divisions (the Cup, the Plate, the Bowl and the Shield). The Sydney Convicts (Team A) took the cup back with them to Australia
after winning the Cup competition for the second time in a row, this time defeating the Kings Cross Steelers
(Team A) in the Cup final. The World Barbarians team, made up largely of the Nashville Grizzlies
, beat the Sydney Convicts (team B) in the Plate final. Belfast
team the Ulster Titans
won the shield. The Atlanta Bucks defeated the Kings Cross Steelers
(Team B) in the Bowl division, making them the only North American team to win a title in this year's tournament.
. The tournament was held at the National Sports Center
in Blaine, Minnesota
, June 17-20, 2010.
The Cup returned to US soil as the 2006 tourney hosts, the Gotham Knights
pulled an upset win over the reigning champions, the Sydney Convicts. The 2010 tournament introduced the Crest and Spoon divisions. The Phoenix Storm won the Crest after defeating the Gotham Knights B-Side in the final. The Bingham Spoon was claimed for the first time by the Seattle Quake when they defeated the Ottawa Wolves
in the final.
, would host the 2012 Bingham Cup, beating the Sydney Convicts' bid by 6 votes. Notably, Manchester's bid was actively supported by straight professional English rugger Ben Cohen.
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
tournament, first held in 2002. The most recent tournament was held in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, in 2010.
Founding and naming
In 2002, gay and bisexual rugby union teams worldwide founded the International Gay Rugby Association and BoardInternational Gay Rugby Association and Board
International Gay Rugby Association and Board is the umbrella organization for the world's gay rugby clubs. It is dedicated to encouraging lesbians and gay men everywhere to play rugby...
(IGRAB) as a body to promote rugby union as an all-inclusive non-discriminatory sport which everyone can play, regardless of sexuality.
An informal invitational tournament, held in May 2001, was formally inaugurated by IGRAB as a new international rugby union competition — a gay rugby union world cup — which in a unanimous decision by all the members of IGRAB became known as the Bingham Cup.
The tournament was named after Mark Bingham
Mark Bingham
Mark Kendall Bingham was an American public relations executive who founded his own company, the Bingham Group. During the September 11 attacks in 2001 he was a passenger on board United Airlines Flight 93...
, a former University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
rugby star who had played in the May 2001 tournament for San Francisco Fog RFC and cofounded the Gotham Knights RFC.http://gothamrfc.org/drupal/?q=node/4 Bingham died in the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
on board United Airlines Flight 93
United Airlines Flight 93
United Airlines Flight 93 was United Airlines' scheduled morning transcontinental flight across the United States from Newark International Airport in Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco International Airport in California. On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, the Boeing 757–222 aircraft operating the...
. According to Jon Barrett of The Advocate
The Advocate
The Advocate is an American LGBT-interest magazine, printed monthly and available by subscription. The Advocate brand also includes a web site. Both magazine and web site have an editorial focus on news, politics, opinion, and arts and entertainment of interest to LGBT people...
, he is generally accepted to be one of a group of passengers who fought with the hijackers aboard the flight, which eventually led to the hijackers crashing the plane into a vacant field
Flight 93 National Memorial
The Flight 93 National Memorial is located at the site of the crash of United Airlines Flight 93, which was hijacked in the September 11 attacks, in Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania, about north of Shanksville, and southeast of Pittsburgh. The memorial was made to honor the passengers of Flight...
in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
instead of targets in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. At the time of his death, there were around eight gay-inclusive rugby clubs worldwide, and he was helping to create others.
Washington invitational, 2001
In May 2001, in a precursor to the tournament, the Washington RenegadesWashington Renegades
The Washington Renegades is a Division III rugby union club based in Washington D.C.. Established on October 24, 1998 by Mark Hertzog, the Washington Renegades was the first men's rugby club in the United States to actively recruit gay men and men of color....
hosted an IGRAB International Invitational for gay rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
teams in Washington D.C., USA.
The event was officially a sevens tournament among the existing IGRAB teams at the time. In addition to the tournament, there was an exhibition XVs matches. In the exhibition match between the San Francisco Fog RFC and the Renegades, the two played against each other for the first time in a XVs match. The Fog won 19-0.
San Francisco, 2002
In October 2001, following the 2001 invitational, the San Francisco Fog successfully lobbied IGRAB for the right to put on a XVs rugby tournament in San Francisco in June 2002.The tournament was fashioned in the style of the Rugby World Cup
Rugby World Cup
The Rugby World Cup is an international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board and held every four years since 1987....
, both the tournament and the cup prize were named for Mark Kendall Bingham
Mark Bingham
Mark Kendall Bingham was an American public relations executive who founded his own company, the Bingham Group. During the September 11 attacks in 2001 he was a passenger on board United Airlines Flight 93...
, a club founder, with the name Bingham Cup later becoming the informal name.
Eight teams traveled to San Francisco during gay pride
Gay pride
LGBT pride or gay pride is the concept that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity...
weekend of June 28-29 2002 to compete over two days with the Fog coming out on top as the Cup’s first winners.
The event was sponsored by Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
and Guinness
Guinness
Guinness is a popular Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin. Guinness is directly descended from the porter style that originated in London in the early 18th century and is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide, brewed in almost...
and was covered by press from around the world, including ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
.
The Fog A side emerged undefeated, defeating the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
Kings Cross Steelers
Kings Cross Steelers
The Kings Cross Steelers are an English rugby union team, the first open membership gay and bisexual rugby club in the world.The Kings Cross Steelers are currently playing in the .-History:...
27-5 in the final. Alice Hoglan, Mark Bingham’s mom, presented the Fog with the trophy. The event was profiled in a two-page article in Rugby World magazine.
London, 2004
In May 2004, the Bingham Cup competition was hosted by LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, club Kings Cross Steelers
Kings Cross Steelers
The Kings Cross Steelers are an English rugby union team, the first open membership gay and bisexual rugby club in the world.The Kings Cross Steelers are currently playing in the .-History:...
. From eight teams just two years prior, twenty teams from four countries were fielded for the 2004 cup, which was won for the second time by the San Francisco Fog RFC.
New York, 2006
Hosting of the third Bingham Cup was awarded to New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
's Gotham Knights RFC
Gotham Knights
The Gotham Knights Rugby Football Club is a division III men's club in the Metropolitan New York Rugby Union. Their home pitch is on Randall's Island, between the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx...
in October 2004 by the International Gay Rugby Association and Board
International Gay Rugby Association and Board
International Gay Rugby Association and Board is the umbrella organization for the world's gay rugby clubs. It is dedicated to encouraging lesbians and gay men everywhere to play rugby...
and was held on Randall's Island
Randall's Island
Randall's Island is situated in the East River in New York City, part of the borough of Manhattan. It is separated from Manhattan island on the west by the river's main channel, from Queens on the east by the Hell Gate, and from the Bronx on the north by the Bronx Kill. It is joined to Wards...
in New York's East River
East River
The East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...
on Memorial Day
Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...
weekend, May 26-28, 2006. 29 teams from 22 clubs in 6 countries participated.
The tournament field was divided into 3 divisions, the Bingham Cup for the strongest teams, Bingham Bowl and Bingham Plate. 2006 also included the first ever Women's division, with 2 teams entering.
In March 2006, the Bingham Cup Organizing Committee announced that donations would be made to two charities: The Mark Kendall Bingham Leadership Fund, a scholarship established in Bingham's name at the University of California-Berkeley, his alma mater, and the Flight 93 Memorial Fund administered by the National Parks Service to be constructed in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
Over 800 registered participants from 29 teams in nine countries took part in the largest Bingham Cup tournament to date.
Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
- Sydney Convicts (A & B)
Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
- Muddy York (Toronto)
Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
- Emerald WarriorsEmerald WarriorsThe Emerald Warriors are an Irish rugby team based in Dublin. They play in the Leinster Metro J4 Junior League and are members of the International Gay Rugby Association and Board...
(Dublin)
Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
- Amsterdam NOP
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
- Cardiff LionsCardiff LionsThe Cardiff Lions RFC is a gay and gay friendly rugby union football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club was founded in 2004 and remains the only gay rugby club in Wales...
- Kings Cross SteelersKings Cross SteelersThe Kings Cross Steelers are an English rugby union team, the first open membership gay and bisexual rugby club in the world.The Kings Cross Steelers are currently playing in the .-History:...
(London) - Manchester Village Spartans
United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
- Austin Lonestars,
- Atlanta Bucks,
- Chicago Dragons,
- Dallas Diablos,
- Gotham Knights (New York A & B),
- Boston Ironsides,
- Los Angeles Rebellion,
- Minneapolis Mayhem,
- Phoenix Storm,
- Philadelphia Gryphons,
- Portland Avalanche,
- San Francisco Fog (A & B),
- Seattle Quake,
- Washington Renegades (A & B),
- Scottsdale Lady Blues,
- Bingham Motleys,
- World Barbarians,
- I Love Kuch
Teams participating for the first time included the Cardiff Lions, the Phoenix Storm, the Portland Avalanche, the Chicago Dragons, the Amsterdam NOP, and the Minneapolis Mayhem.
The cup final was between reigning champions San Francisco Fog A and the Sydney Convicts A, who won the game 16-10. Boston Ironsides defeated the Dallas Diablos to win the inaugural Bingham Bowl. Sydney Convicts B beat the World Barbarians to win the Bingham Plate. The final standings for the tournament are as follows:
Bingham Cup Division
1) Sydney Convicts A
2) San Francisco Fog A
3) Washington Renegades A
4) Gotham Knights A
5) Seattle Quake
6) Kings Cross Steelers
7) Los Angeles Rebellion
8) Manchester Village Spartans
Bingham Bowl Division
1) Boston Ironsides
2) Dallas Diablos
3) Philadelphia Gryphons
4) Austin Lonestars
5) Chicago Dragons
6) Atlanta Bucks
7) Portland Avalanche
8) Emerald Warriors
Bingham Plate Division
1) Sydney Convicts B
2) World Barbarians
3) Washington Renegades B
4) Gotham Knights B
5) Minneapolis Mayhem
6) Cardiff Lions
7) Phoenix Storm
8) San Francisco Fog B
9) Toronto Muddy York
10) Amsterdam NOP
The 2008 documentary film Walk Like a Man focuses on the Sydney Convicts and San Francisco Fog as they prepare and compete for this Bingham Cup.
Dublin, 2008
On December 1, 2006, IGRAB announced the success of the bid of Emerald WarriorsEmerald Warriors
The Emerald Warriors are an Irish rugby team based in Dublin. They play in the Leinster Metro J4 Junior League and are members of the International Gay Rugby Association and Board...
to host the 2008 competition in Dublin Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. Other bidding cities included Sydney, Australia, and Paris, France. In addition, Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, Cardiff, Wales, and Toronto, Canada also considered bidding to host the 2008 tournament.
The fourth Bingham cup was held in Dublin on the weekend of the 13 -16 June, at Dublin City University
Dublin City University
Dublin City University is a university situated between Glasnevin, Santry, Ballymun and Whitehall on the Northside of Dublin in Ireland...
campus. 32 teams competed across four divisions (the Cup, the Plate, the Bowl and the Shield). The Sydney Convicts (Team A) took the cup back with them to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
after winning the Cup competition for the second time in a row, this time defeating the Kings Cross Steelers
Kings Cross Steelers
The Kings Cross Steelers are an English rugby union team, the first open membership gay and bisexual rugby club in the world.The Kings Cross Steelers are currently playing in the .-History:...
(Team A) in the Cup final. The World Barbarians team, made up largely of the Nashville Grizzlies
Nashville Grizzlies RFC
Nashville Grizzlies RFC is a men's rugby union football club in Nashville, Tennessee. The club was formed in 2006 to bring the sport to typically under-represented populations although it welcomes anyone interested in the sport...
, beat the Sydney Convicts (team B) in the Plate final. Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
team the Ulster Titans
Ulster Titans
The Ulster Titans are a Northern Irish rugby team based in Belfast. They play East 2 of the Ulster Magners Minor League and are members of the International Gay Rugby Association and Board. The club colours are black, yellow and white.-History:...
won the shield. The Atlanta Bucks defeated the Kings Cross Steelers
Kings Cross Steelers
The Kings Cross Steelers are an English rugby union team, the first open membership gay and bisexual rugby club in the world.The Kings Cross Steelers are currently playing in the .-History:...
(Team B) in the Bowl division, making them the only North American team to win a title in this year's tournament.
Minneapolis, 2010
On January 21, 2009, IGRAB announced that the hosting rights for the 2010 Mark Kendall Bingham Memorial Tournament had been awarded to the Minneapolis MayhemMinneapolis Mayhem
The Minneapolis Mayhem Rugby Football Club is one of the nation’s few male rugby clubs that makes the sport accessible to traditionally underrepresented groups, including people of color and gay men....
. The tournament was held at the National Sports Center
National Sports Center
The National Sports Center is a 600-acre multi-sport complex located in Blaine, Minnesota, United States, that includes a soccer stadium, over 50 full-sized soccer fields, a golf course, a velodrome, a meeting and convention facility, and an eight-sheet ice rink, the Schwan Super Rink, which is...
in Blaine, Minnesota
Blaine, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 44,942 people, 15,898 households, and 12,177 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,330 people per square mile . There are 16,169 housing units at an average density of 477.6 per square mile...
, June 17-20, 2010.
The Cup returned to US soil as the 2006 tourney hosts, the Gotham Knights
Gotham Knights
The Gotham Knights Rugby Football Club is a division III men's club in the Metropolitan New York Rugby Union. Their home pitch is on Randall's Island, between the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx...
pulled an upset win over the reigning champions, the Sydney Convicts. The 2010 tournament introduced the Crest and Spoon divisions. The Phoenix Storm won the Crest after defeating the Gotham Knights B-Side in the final. The Bingham Spoon was claimed for the first time by the Seattle Quake when they defeated the Ottawa Wolves
Ottawa Wolves RFC
- History :The Ottawa Wolves RFC was founded in 2008 by Carl Pilon and Jay Smidt, both Hero award recipients, with the mission to promote and encourage participation in rugby among those who have traditionally been under-represented in the game, with an emphasis on gay men...
in the final.
Manchester, 2012
It was announced on September 29, 2010, that the Manchester Village Spartans Rugby Club, EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, would host the 2012 Bingham Cup, beating the Sydney Convicts' bid by 6 votes. Notably, Manchester's bid was actively supported by straight professional English rugger Ben Cohen.
External links
- Bingham Cup website
- Mark Bingham tribute site
- IGRAB the International Gay Rugby Union & Board Site
- Emerald Warriors Rugby Football Club
- Gotham Knights Rugby Football Club
- Ottawa Wolves Rugby Football Club
- Seattle Quake Rugby Football Club
- San Francisco Fog Rugby Football Club
- Sydney Convicts official site
- Minneapolis Mayhem Rugby Football Club
- Nashville Grizzlies Rugby Football Club
- Newsday
- Outsports.com tournament report
- Reuters news story and video
- Manchester Village Spartans Website
- Kings Cross Steelers RFC
- http://www.bostonironsides.org/
- Union CupUnion CupThe Union Cup is a biennial European, non-professional, gay rugby union tournament, bringing together teams and joint teams from all over Europe.-Montpellier 2005:The first edition was held in May 2005 in Montpellier, France...