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The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as California or Cal, the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club teams in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)'s Division I primarily as a member of the Pac-12 Conference, and for a limited number of sports as a member of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). Over the course of the school's history, California has won team national titles in 13 men's and 3 women's sports and 113 team titles overall. Cal athletes have also competed in the Olympics for a host of different countries. Notable facilities used by the Bears include California Memorial Stadium (football) and Haas Pavilion. Cal finished the 2010–11 athletic season with 1,219.50 points, earning third place in the Director's Cup standings, the Golden Bears' highest finish ever. Cal did not receive any points for its national championships in rugby and men's crew because those sports are not governed by the NCAA. Cal finished 12th in the 2014-15 standings.
Rugby union in the United States is played at youth, high school, college, amateur, professional, and international levels and governed by USA Rugby. There were over 125,000 players registered with USA Rugby as of 2016. Over 2,500 rugby union clubs exist around the country, including those who are part of college rugby. Professional club competition has existed as Major League Rugby (MLR) since 2017.
The Army Rugby Football Club was founded in 1961 and for over 50 years the Army Black Knights have been a leader in USA Collegiate Rugby. The Army Ruggers are West Point's most winning team.
The Lindenwood Lions and Lady Lions are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Lindenwood University, located in St. Charles, Missouri, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily competing in the Ohio Valley Conference for most of its sports since the 2022–23 academic year.
Division 1-A Rugby is the highest level of college rugby within the United States and is administered by USA Rugby. Division 1-A rugby is modeled after NCAA athletic competitions, with the 46 D1-A rugby schools divided into eight conferences: East, Midwest, Rocky Mountain, California, Big Ten, Red River, PAC, and Independent.
The Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC) is an annual college rugby sevens tournament. The CRC is the highest profile college rugby sevens competition in the United States, with the tournament broadcast live on NBC from 2010 to 2017, on ESPN News and ESPN3 from 2018 to 2019, The Rugby Network in 2021 and 2023, and on CBS Sports in 2022. The CRC capitalized on the surge in popularity of rugby following the 2009 announcement of the addition of rugby sevens to the Summer Olympics. Beginning in 2021, the tournament has been organized by National Collegiate Rugby under license for the name and logo.
The USA Rugby Sevens Collegiate National Championships is an annual competition among the top college rugby teams in the country to decide a national champion in rugby sevens. USA Rugby organized the championship to capitalize on the surge in popularity of rugby sevens following the 2009 announcement of the addition of rugby to the Summer Olympics. USA Rugby recognized that rugby sevens is growing in popularity, participation and interest. At the time of the foundation of the tournament, rugby was one of the fastest growing sports across college campuses. This tournament is a major contributor to the selection process for USA Rugby Olympic athletes.
The California Golden Bears rugby team is the college rugby team of the University of California, Berkeley. The Golden Bears have won 33 championships since the national collegiate championships for rugby began in 1980. Current head coach and Cal alumnus Jack Clark took over the team in 1984, and has achieved prolonged success, leading the Bears to 28 national titles, including twelve consecutive championships from 1991 to 2002, five more consecutive titles from 2004 to 2008, and back-to-back titles in 2010 to 2011 and 2016 to 2017.
The Army Black Knights men's soccer program represents the United States Military Academy in all NCAA Division I men's college soccer competitions. Founded in 1921, the Black Knights compete in the Patriot League. The Black Knights play in the Patriot League and are coached by Russell Payne, a former goalkeeper who played in the A-League. Army plays their home matches at Clinton Field in West Point, New York.
The 2013 USA Sevens Collegiate Rugby Championship was a rugby sevens tournament. The tournament was held on May 31 - June 2 at PPL Park in Chester, Pennsylvania. It was the fourth annual Collegiate Rugby Championship and the third consecutive year that the tournament was held at PPL Park. For 2013, USA Sevens LLC expanded the tournament from 16 to 20 teams in order to include additional local Philadelphia-area teams, inviting Temple, Kutztown, Penn, and Saint Joseph's. Another local team, Villanova, was later chosen as a replacement for Army. Villanova was outscored 184-0 over four games.
The 2014 USA Sevens Collegiate Rugby Championship was a rugby sevens tournament. The tournament was held on May 30 — June 1 at PPL Park in Chester, Pennsylvania. It was the fifth annual Collegiate Rugby Championship, and the fourth consecutive year that the tournament is held at PPL Park. California defeated Kutztown 24-21 in the final to secure the CRC Championship for the second year in a row.
The 2015 Collegiate Rugby Championship was a college rugby sevens tournament held May 30—31 at PPL Park, a soccer stadium in the Chester suburb of Philadelphia, PA. It was the sixth annual Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC), and the fifth consecutive year that the tournament was held at PPL Park. The tournament is known for sponsorship reasons as the 2015 Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship.
Subaru Park is a soccer-specific stadium located in Chester, Pennsylvania, located next to the Commodore Barry Bridge on the waterfront along the Delaware River. The venue is home to the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer.
The 2016 Collegiate Rugby Championship is a college rugby sevens tournament played June 4–5 at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. It is the seventh annual Collegiate Rugby Championship, and the sixth consecutive year that the tournament will be at Talen Energy Stadium. The event was broadcast on NBC and NBCSN. Commentators were Todd Harris and Brian Hightower. California won the championship, defeating UCLA 31–7 in an all-Pac-12 final. Attendance for the two-day event was 27,224.
The 2017 Collegiate Rugby Championship was a college rugby sevens tournament played June 3–4 at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. It was the eighth annual Collegiate Rugby Championship, and the seventh consecutive year that the tournament was at Talen Energy Stadium. The 2017 championship broke the event's two-day attendance record with 37,518 on hand. It also set the tournament record for a one-day attendance with 14,973 on Saturday. The event was broadcast on NBC and NBCSN. California won the championship.
The 2018 Collegiate Rugby Championship was a college rugby sevens tournament played June 1–3 at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. It was the ninth annual Collegiate Rugby Championship, and the eight consecutive year that the tournament was at Talen Energy Stadium. The event was broadcast on ESPN+, ESPN2 and ESPNews. The men's tournament consisted of 24 teams split into six pools. Lindenwood won both the men's and women's championships. To claim their first title in only their second appearance in the tournament, Lindenwood defeated UCLA in the men's final. Total attendance for the three day tournament was 27,002 including a record setting 15,109 for Saturday pool play.
The 2021 Collegiate Rugby Championship was a college rugby sevens tournament played from May 29–31, 2021 at Gold Mine on Airline in New Orleans, Louisiana. The tournament is also known as May Madness. It was the eleventh annual Collegiate Rugby Championship, and the first year that the tournament was held in New Orleans. The men's competition consisted of 28 teams while the women's competition contained 12 teams. All teams compete in a single elimination bracket. Lindenwood are the two-time defending champions. All matches played in the stadium were broadcast on The Rugby Network and on the National Collegiate Rugby YouTube channel. Lindenwood won the women's competition, beating Life in the final, 10–7. Likewise, Lindenwood beat Life, 24–14 in the men's final to claim their third consecutive title. Teams which were knocked out of the Premier Cup Bracket, competed in the Champion Plate, Challenge Bowl, and the Survivor Shield. Wheeling won the Champion Plate, Central College won the Challenge Bowl, and Mckendree won the Survivor Shield.
The 2022 Collegiate Rugby Championship was a college rugby sevens tournament played from May 28–30, 2022 at Gold Mine on Airline in New Orleans, Louisiana. The tournament is also known as May Madness. It was the 12th annual Collegiate Rugby Championship, and the second consecutive year that the tournament was held in New Orleans. The men's Premier Cup competition consisted of 32 teams, while the women's premier cup competition featured 16 teams. The tournament as a whole featured 110 teams competing across six men’s and women’s divisions, making it the largest ever collegiate rugby tournament. All teams competed in a single elimination bracket. Lindenwood entered the tournament as three-time defending champions. Kutztown won their first CRC title defeating Dartmouth 17–12 in the final. Lindenwood won their fourth women's title defeating Life 19–7 in the final. The CBS Sports Network broadcast five matches per day with the remaining matches available on The Rugby Network. Teams which were knocked out of the Premier Cup Bracket, competed in the Champion Plate, Challenge Bowl, and the Survivor Shield. Notre Dame College won the Champion Plate, Fordham won the Challenge Bowl, and Air Force won the Survivor Shield.
The 2023 Collegiate Rugby Championship was a college rugby sevens tournament played from April 28–30, 2023 at Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds, Maryland. The tournament is also known as May Madness. It was the 13th annual Collegiate Rugby Championship, and the first year that the tournament was held in Maryland. The men's Premier Cup competition consisted of 32 teams, while the women's premier cup competition featured 16 teams. The men's tournament as a whole featured 74 teams competing across four divisions. All teams in the Premier bracket competed in a single elimination bracket. Kutztown entered the tournament as defending champions. Lindenwood entered the tournament as four-time defending champions of the women's tournament. The matches were shown on The Rugby Network and National Collegiate Rugby's YouTube channel. Mount Saint Mary's won the men's Premier Cup defeating Indiana 19–5 in the final.
College rugby is played by men and women throughout colleges and universities in the United States. Seven-a-side and fifteen-a-side variants of rugby union are most commonly played. Most collegiate rugby programs do not fall under the auspices of the NCAA and are instead governed by National Collegiate Rugby and USA Rugby, two nationwide governing bodies. 27 women's programs participate in the NCAA.
References
- ↑ "Speed Reads..." sports business daily. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
- ↑ "Come to Philadelphia This Weekend - May 31, June 1, 2 - at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester for the Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship". pr news wire. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
- ↑ "Cal Competes For Championship At CRC 7s". Cal Bears. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
- ↑ "Lindenwood Men Repeat With USA-CRC Double". Flo rugby. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
- 1 2 "Men's rugby wins back-to-back national championships, makes history". Linden Link. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
- ↑ "Men's Rugby Club Takes Home Freedom Cup at Collegiate Rugby Championship". go crimson. Retrieved 15 February 2021.