Nashville Grizzlies RFC

Last updated
Nashville Grizzlies RFC
Grizzlies.jpg
NameNashville Grizzlies Rugby Football Club
Mascot Grizzly bear
ColorsNavy blue, maroon, & gold
Founded2006
MottoTecum Fratre
Sport Rugby Union Football
Union MidSouth Rugby Football Union
Website www.GrizzliesRugby.org

Nashville Grizzlies RFC (Rugby Football Club) 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 (specifically gay men) although it welcomes anyone interested in the sport. The club is made up of approximately 90 members (as of March, 2011) consisting of both active players, as well as non-playing Auxiliary members.

Contents

Competitions

Local

The club competes locally within Division III of the MidSouth Rugby Football Union, a local area union within the USA Rugby South territorial union, itself part of USA Rugby.

National/International

The club is also a member club of the International Gay Rugby Association & Board (IGRAB), an umbrella organization for gay rugby clubs worldwide. As an IGRAB member, the club plays against other member clubs across the United States and internationally in one-on-one matches and in formal and informal tournaments.

In October 2010, the club played in the Hellfest tournament, hosted by the Dallas Diablos RFC. The team placed fourth out of a field of eight teams. May 2011 saw the Grizzlies competing in the Chicago Dragons Midwest Invitational tournament, placing fourth of seven teams. The team placed third of six teams in Spring Fever IGRAB Invitational Tournament hosted by the St. Louis Crusaders in March 2012.

The team has thrice competed in IGRAB's Mark Kendall Bingham Memorial Tournament (aka, the Bingham Cup), the gay rugby union world cup. Club members playing as part of the World Barbarians side won the Plate Division at the 2008 tournament in Dublin, Ireland. [1] The club traveled to Manchester, England for the 2012 Bingham Cup, placing 15th out of a field of 40+ teams. The Grizzlies were named the inaugural recipients of the Ben Cohen StandUp Award, [2] given "for outstanding team sportsmanship in the game of rugby" at the Manchester awards banquet.

In 2014 the team submitted a bid and won the honor of hosting the Bingham Cup in 2016.

Social & Community Activities

Like most rugby clubs, the Nashville Grizzlies conduct and participate in a number of activities off the pitch. After each home match, the club holds a Third Half social which is open to the public and the opposing side. Club nights are held each month at one of several local bars as both social/recruiting functions and fundraisers.

The club also holds an annual fun run and pub crawl (the Grizzlies Red Dress Rampage [3] [4] ) which is a joint fundraiser for the team and for Nashville's Belcourt Theatre. The team also works with the Nashville chapter of Habitat for Humanity, and each year sponsors a roller disco party in support of Nashville Pride.

Related Research Articles

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bingham Cup</span> Rugby competition

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.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Ironsides RFC</span> Rugby team

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenya national rugby union team</span>

The Kenya national rugby union team, commonly known as the Simbas, is the country's national team managed by the Kenya Rugby Union. The team plays in red, green, and black jerseys with black or white shorts. The Simbas represent Kenya in the Africa Cup and various other tournaments across the continent. They currently rank 34 in the World Rugby Rankings and fourth in Africa. Kenya is yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup.

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.

Malmö Devilants RFC is a Swedish gay rugby union and volleyball club in Malmö. Malmö Devilants was founded 2004 and was the first gay rugby team in Scandinavia. Malmö Devilants is a member of International Gay Rugby Association and Board. Devilants have been playing in Union Cup in 2005 and 2007. In 2007 the club also started a volleyball team.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emerald Warriors RFC</span> Irish rugby team

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meraloma Rugby</span> Rugby union team in Canada

Meraloma Club is a Canadian rugby union team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Founded in 1923, The Meraloma Club originated as a swim club before branching out with an array of other sports including rugby. The rugby club currently competes in the British Columbia Premier Rugby League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minneapolis Mayhem</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caledonian Thebans RFC</span> Scottish rugby team

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Gay Rugby</span> Umbrella organisation for rugby clubs

International Gay Rugby (IGR), founded in 2000, 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bristol Bisons RFC</span> English rugby union team

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manchester Village Spartans RUFC</span> Rugby team

The Manchester Village Spartans RUFC is Manchester's gay and inclusive rugby union football team based at Sale Sports Club, Manchester.

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.

References

  1. ↑ 2008 Bingham Cup [usurped] , standings
  2. ↑ Ben Cohen StandUp Award, Award plaque & trophy
  3. ↑ Grizzlies Red Dress Rampage presented by Yazoo, official event website
  4. ↑ Seeing Red, Out & About Newspaper
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.