The Mark Kendall Bingham Memorial Tournament or the Bingham Cup is a biennial international, non-professional, gay rugby union tournament, first held in 2002. It is named after Mark Bingham, who died on board United Airlines Flight 93 when it crashed during the September 11, 2001 attacks. The most recent tournament was held in Rome, Italy, in May 2024 and was won by French team Les Gaillards.
Mark Bingham's mother (Alice Hoagland) and his friend Jason Reimuller (R) at training for Bingham Cup 2014 in Sydney
History
Founding
In October 2000, gay and bisexual rugby union teams worldwide founded the International Gay Rugby Association and Board (IGRAB) as a body to promote rugby union as an all-inclusive non-discriminatory sport which everyone can play, regardless of sexuality.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
The event was officially a Rugby sevens tournament among the existing IGRAB teams at the time. In addition to the tournament, there was an exhibition rugby union or 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, both the tournament and the cup prize were named in honor of Mark Kendall Bingham, a club founder who died on United Airlines flight 93 during the September 11th terrorist attacks. Later the name Bingham Cup become 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[citation needed], including ESPN.
The Fog A side emerged undefeated, defeating the LondonKings Cross Steelers 27-5 in the final. Alice Hoagland, 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 London, 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. During the 2004 cup, the Bingham Bowl Division was introduced, a middle tier award won by the Philadelphia Gryphons. the inaugural bowl was literally a bowl from the kitchen of the Esher RFC in London.
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 Park 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.
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 IGR World Barbarians to win the Bingham Plate. The final standings for the tournament are as follows:
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 (A Team) 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 (A Team) in the Cup final. The IGR World Barbarians team, made up largely of the Nashville Grizzlies, beat the Sydney Convicts (B Team) in the Plate final. Belfast team the Ulster Titans won the shield. The Atlanta Bucks defeated the Kings Cross Steelers (B Team) in the Bowl division, making them the only North American team to win a title in this year's tournament.
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 B when they defeated the Ottawa Wolves in the final.
Manchester, 2012
It was announced on September 29, 2010, that the Manchester Village Spartans RUFC, England, 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 rugby player Ben Cohen.[5] The competition was held at Broughton Park RUFC, Manchester, June 1–3 and boasted the largest number of inclusive teams in the tournament's history.[dead link][6]
Sydney, 2014
In August 2014, the Sydney Convicts brought the Bingham Cup competition to the southern hemisphere. Twenty-four teams traveled to New South Wales, Australia for three rainy days of competition at the home of the Woollahra Colleagues RFC. The home-town Convicts ultimately won the Cup for the second consecutive tournament.
Nashville, 2016
Hosting of the eighth Bingham Cup[7] was awarded to Tennessee's Nashville Grizzlies, marking the first time the tournament would be held in the American South. The tournament was held on Memorial Day weekend at Nashville's Ted Rhodes Park with players housed at Vanderbilt University. Forty-five teams competed for tournament prizes in twelve divisions. The winners of the twelve divisions were as follows (in ascending order):
In addition, the Nashville tournament hosted the inaugural Bingham Old Boys match & marked the first awarding of the Bingham Cane for the winning team.
On October 4, 2018, IGR announced that the 2020 Bingham Cup was awarded to the Ottawa Wolves and that the tournament would be played in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.[8] Ottawa was to be the first city in Canada to host the tournament, which was originally scheduled to be played August 8–17, 2020.[9]
On March 28, 2020, IGR announced that the 2020 Bingham Cup was postponed until August 2022 because of the Covid-19 outbreak.[10]
Ottawa, 2022
The 10th edition of Bingham began on August 18th, 2022, in Ottawa, Canada Host by club Ottawa Wolves
Bingham Cup - London Kings Cross Steelers
Bingham Plate - Dublin Emerald Warriors
Bingham Bowl - Seattle Quake
Bingham Shield - Washington Renegades
Hoagland Cup - London Kings Cross Steelers
Hoagland Plate - Montréal Armada
Hoagland Bowl - Paris Gaillards
Hoagland Shield - Washington Renegades
Challenger Cup - Baltimore Flamingos
Challenger Plate - Nashville Grizzlies
Challenger Bowl - Toronto Muddy York
Challenger Shield - Preston-Brighton-Toronto Snakes on a Plane
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 Randalls Island in Manhattan. The team finished fourth in the 2012 Bingham Cup, an international gay rugby tournament, coming off a 2010 win in Minneapolis.
San Francisco Fog Rugby Football Club (RFC), also known as "The Fog", is a rugby union football club in San Francisco, California. It is the first such team in the western United States established specifically to actively reach out to traditionally under-represented groups in rugby, such as people of color, gay men, and women. It welcomes players who do not fit into those categories. The club has over 100 members.
Boston Ironsides Rugby Football Club is a rugby union football club based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Ironsides play in the New England Rugby Football Union as a Division 4 Men's Team; retaining around 40-60 members each season.
The Washington Renegades are a Division III and Division IV rugby union club based in Washington D.C. Established on October 24, 1998, by Mark Hertzog.
The Union Cup is a biennial European, non-professional, gay rugby union tournament, bringing together teams and joint teams from all over Europe. It is held every odd-numbered year.
The Cardiff Lions RFC is a gay and inclusive rugby union football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club was founded in 2004 and is the first of two gay and inclusive rugby clubs in Wales. The Lions were admitted as members of the International Gay Rugby Association and Board in 2006.
The Kings Cross Steelers are a British rugby team, based in London. Founded in 1995 it was the world's first gay-inclusive rugby union club. Its founding sparked the beginning of a much larger gay-inclusive rugby movement which to date includes over 60 clubs across the world.
Newcastle Ravens Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team located in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The current Chairman : Chris Buckton.
The Emerald Warriors are an Irish rugby team based in Dublin. They play in the Leinster Metro League Division 10 and 7 and are members of the International Gay Rugby Association and Board. They are the reigning bronze final champions since Union Cup Madrid 2017. The Warriors are Ireland's first primarily gay rugby team although it is open to anyone with an interest in playing rugby and includes heterosexual members.
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.
Caledonian Thebans Rugby Football Club is Scotland's leading inclusive rugby club and represents Scotland in international rugby union tournaments for inclusive teams.
The Ottawa Wolves are a rugby union football club for men and women in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The men's side of the club is predominantly made up of gay men, but both sides of the team are inclusive of anyone who wishes to join regardless of sexual orientation.
International Gay Rugby (IGR), formerly known as the International Gay Rugby Association and Board (IGRAB), is the umbrella organisation for the world's gay and inclusive rugby clubs. Based in London, UK, IGR is recognised by World Rugby as the representative organisation of the LGBT and inclusive rugby community, up to the point they both have signed a Memorandum of Understanding outlining a commitment between the two organisations to work together to educate and eliminate homophobia in rugby.
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. The club is made up of approximately 90 members consisting of both active players, as well as non-playing Auxiliary members.
Bristol Bisons RFC is an inclusive English rugby union club based in Bristol. Founded in 2005 as the south west’s first inclusive rugby team, the Bisons have welcomed players of all abilities, backgrounds and sexualities from Bristol, Somerset, South Gloucestershire and the surrounding areas since that time.
Walk Like a Man, full title Walk Like a Man: A Real Life Drama About Blood, Sweat & Queers is a 2008 Australian documentary film about gay rugby union co-produced and co-directed by Patricia Zagarella and Jim Morgison and narrated by Australian former rugby league international Ian Roberts.
"Les Gaillards Paris Rugby Club" or "Les Gaillards Parisiens" is the first LGBT rugby team in France, created on 19 January 2004 and recognised as an association of general interest since 23 February 2023 by the Préfecture de Paris.
The Manchester Village Spartans RUFC is Manchester's gay and inclusive rugby union football team based at Sale Sports Club, Manchester.
Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFC is a gay and inclusive rugby union club based in Brighton & Hove in Sussex, England.
Muddy York RFC is Toronto's only Inclusive rugby team and Canada's second Inclusive rugby team. The team was founded by Dave Galbraith in 2003, and is part of the TRU and IGR organizations. Muddy York RFC is Toronto's first amateur gay team.
↑ "Person of the year: This Is Mark Bingham"; Jon Barrett The Advocate, January 22, 2002, Nos. 854-855, ISSN 0001-8996, page 41-7. Partial quote, "Mounting evidence suggests Mark had access to the information his mother was trying to get to him. Cockpit recordings support that he and others on board took amazing measures attempting to overcome the highjackers. The victims of Flight 93 have been heralded as citizen soldiers who, when faced with unimaginable circumstatces, gave their own lives to save thousands of others. Mark, meanwhile, has been singled out by the media as a gay hero."
↑ "Bingham Cup 2010". IGRAB official site. October 21, 2012. Archived from the original on September 30, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
