International Gay Rugby Association and Board

Official logo

International Gay Rugby (Association and Board) (IGR) is the umbrella organization for the world's gay rugby clubs. It is dedicated to encouraging lesbians and gay men everywhere to play rugby. IGR is based in London, UK.

The Goals of IGR are to:

IGR seeks to ensure its activities and rugby generally are inclusive in nature. IGR will strive to ensure that no individual shall be excluded from participating in IGR or rugby on the basis of sexual orientation, gender, race, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, political beliefs, athletic ability, age, physical challenge, mental challenge, or health status.

IGR constitutionally covers rugby union, rugby league, rugby sevens, quad (wheelchair) rugby, and touch rugby. Rugby union is by far the largest part of the IGR's focus.

The 2008-2012 IGR officers are Alex Fallis, Chairman (Dublin Emerald Warriors); Andrew "Fuzz" Purchas, Vice-Chairman (Sydney Convicts); Jeff Wilson, Secretary (Seattle Quake) and Jonathan Fish, Treasurer (Manchester Village Spartans).

Mark Bingham's mother (Alice Hoagland) and his friend Jason Reimuller (R) at training for Bingham Cup 2014 in Sydney.

History

In 2002 a coordinating group of gay & bisexual rugby teams based around the globe got together to create IGR as the body to promote rugby as an all-inclusive non-discriminatory sport which everyone can play, regardless of sexuality. The formation of this body led to the inauguration of a new international rugby competition—a gay rugby world's cup—which in a unanimous decision by all the members of IGR became known as the Bingham Cup. Since then the Bingham Cup has been won by:

Member Clubs

Australasia

  • Brisbane Hustlers RFC, (currently inactive) Brisbane, Australia
  • Melbourne Chargers RFC, Melbourne, Australia
  • New Zealand Falcons RFC, Auckland, New Zealand
  • Sydney Convicts RFC, Sydney, Australia

Europe

  • NOP Amsterdam RFC,(currently inactive) Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Amsterdam Lowlanders RFC, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Berlin Bruisers Berlin, Germany
  • Birmingham Bulls RFC, Birmingham, England, UK
  • Bristol Bisons RFC, Bristol, England, UK
  • Caledonian Thebans RFC, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
  • Cardiff Lions RFC, Cardiff, Wales, UK
  • Cologne Crushers,[1] Cologne, Germany
  • Copenhagen Scrum RFC, (currently inactive) Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Copenhagen Wolves RFC, Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Emerald Warriors RFC, Dublin, Ireland
  • Kings Cross Steelers RFC, London, England, UK
  • La Melee Alpine RFC, Grenoble, France
  • Les Coqs Festifs RFC, Paris, France
  • Les Gaillards Parisiens RFC, Paris, France
  • Lisbon Dark Horses, Lisbon, Portugal
  • Los Valents de Montpellier RFC, Montpellier, France
  • Malmö Devilants RFC, Malmö, Sweden
  • Manchester Village Spartans RFC, Manchester, England, UK
  • Newcastle Ravens RFC, Newcastle upon Tyne, England
  • Oporto Spartans RFC, Porto, Portugal
  • Panthers RFC, Derby, DE1 Derby, United Kingdom
  • Stockholm Berserkers, Stockholm, Sweden
  • Straffe Ketten RFC, Brussels, Belgium
  • Ulster Titans RFC, Belfast, Northern Ireland
  • Madrid Titanes RC, Madrid, Spain

South America

  • Buenos Aires Rugby, (currently inactive) Buenos Aires, Argentina

North America

  • Atlanta Bucks RFC, Atlanta, Georgia, United States
  • Austin Lonestars RFC, (currently inactive) Austin, Texas, United States
  • Boston Ironsides RFC, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
  • Charleston Blockade RFC, Charleston, South Carolina, United States
  • Charlotte Royals RFC, Charlotte, North Carolina, United States
  • Chicago Dragons RFC, Chicago, Illinois, United States
  • Colorado RUSH RFC,[2] Denver, Colorado, United States
  • Columbus Coyotes RFC, Columbus, Ohio, United States
  • Dallas Diablos RFC, Dallas, Texas, United States
  • Denver Wildfire RFC, (currently inactive) Denver, Colorado, United States
  • Gotham Knights RFC, New York City, United States
  • Houston Heat RFC, (currently inactive) Houston, Texas, United States
  • Houston Roughnecks RFC, (currently inactive) Houston, Texas, United States
  • Kansas City Carnivores RFC, Kansas City, Missouri, United States
  • Los Angeles Rebellion RFC, Los Angeles, California, United States
  • Madison Minotaurs RFC,[3] Madison, Wisconsin, United States
  • Minneapolis Mayhem RFC, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
  • Muddy York RFC, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  • Nashville Grizzlies RFC,[4] Nashville, Tennessee, United States
  • North Carolina Kodiaks RFC, (currently inactive) Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, United States
  • Ottawa Wolves RFC, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
  • Philadelphia Gryphons RFC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
  • Phoenix Storm RFC, Phoenix, Arizona, United States
  • Portland Avalanche RFC, (currently inactive) Portland, Oregon, United States
  • San Diego Armada RFC, San Diego, California, United States
  • Scotian Storms RFC, (currently inactive) Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
  • San Francisco Fog RFC, San Francisco, California, United States
  • Seattle Quake RFC, Seattle, Washington, United States
  • St. Louis Crusaders RFC, St. Louis, Missouri, United States
  • Vancouver Rogues RFC, (currently inactive) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
  • Washington Renegades RFC, Washington, DC, United States
  • Washington Scandals RFC,[5] Washington, DC, United States

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Cologne Crushers". Cologne-crushers.de. Retrieved 2014-01-15.
  2. ↑ http://www.ColoradoRushRFC.org
  3. ↑ "The Madison Minotaurs Rugby Football Club - Madison, Wisconsin". Minotaursrugby.org. 2012-04-13. Retrieved 2014-01-15.
  4. ↑ "Nashville Grizzlies Rugby - Home". Grizzliesrugby.org. Retrieved 2014-01-15.
  5. ↑ "Washington Scandals RFC". scandalsrfc.org. Retrieved 2015-03-05.

External links