FEATURE Sports Complex Rough Boys: Rugby Clubs Are Serious Fun Jim Provenzano | January 04, 2005 A semifinals rugby game at the 2004 Bingham Cup in London – Photo © Winston The last four years have seen a huge burst of growth in gay-inclusive rugby clubs around the world. While rugby is known for its grueling action on the playing field, members of the 23 clubs that are part of the International Gay Rugby Association & Board (IGRAB) enjoy off-field camaraderie with equal intensity. For Casey Ryan, president of the Philadelphia Gryphons, rugby's European roots interested the Irish-American. After co-founding the Gryphons in 2002, his club membership has grown from 10 to 50 players. A sense of serious athleticism attracted players to the Gryphons, Ryan says. "Having a qualified coach who had played on local teams and coached a few college teams really helps to focus the core group into being a team." Dublin's Emerald Warriors, formed in 2003, have already grown from eight to 30 players, says team member and publicity chair Nick Costello, who played as a youth and returned to the sport a few years ago. "Most of the team had never played before," he says. "Those who played as adults are generally out [as gay], but respected in their teams." The Emerald Warriors compete with other local clubs, including gay-inclusive clubs in their union (recreational conference) in the nearby United Kingdom, like the Caledonian Thebans (Scotland), the Manchester Village Spartans (Manchester, England), and the King's Cross Steelers (London). While a few informal teams played in South Africa in the early 1990s, the Kings Cross Steelers, founded in 1995, were the first fully organized gay-inclusive club. Now active members of the sport's governing body, the Rugby Football Union, the Steelers participate in national competitions as well. Despite their initial losing streak, they've improved and expanded their ranks, and hosted 2004's biannual Mark Bingham Cup. The tournament is named after the gay rugby player who was killed aboard one of the airliners hijacked on Sept. 11, less than a week before his team, the San Francisco Fog, began its preseason training in 2001. A bicoastal businessman before his death, Bingham also co-founded the New York's Gotham Knights. In addition to upholding Bingham's legacy, the San Francisco Fog became the second North American gay-inclusive club (after the Washington Renegades), won both Bingham Cups, and has enjoyed a tenfold growth in membership (nearly 100) since its formation. The Fog competes with other "straight" clubs as part of the Northern California Rugby Union, one of the most competitive in the United States, says Fog president Pete DuBois. "We're different than a lot of gay sports; and because of that, we've had a greater opportunity and impact in breaking stereotypes outside our community," says DuBois. "It isn't through being activists; it's by competing and enjoying the sport on equal terms with other teams, and sharing the traditions of rugby socializing with our opponents after the match." IGRAB works toward developing tournaments, and encourages diversity in clubs in the various forms of the sport. Rugby union, which IGRAB clubs play, remains the largest part of rugby, and is the third most popular team sport in the world. Frank J. Sloan, president of the Dallas Diablos, says that in the United States, all rugby teams must belong to USA Rugby and to their local union (conference). "Within a union there are different divisions, just like in NCAA football - Division I being the hardest (most competitive), and Division III being the newest and least experienced teams," he says. "Unlike softball or other sports, we play 'straight' teams.' The only time we play other gay teams is if they happen to be in our union or at special events put on to invite IGRAB teams." The 2006 Bingham Cup, to be hosted by New York's Gotham Knights, will take precedence over Gay Games VII that year. (Montreal's OutGames has not planned rugby events.) "We would like to see those venues include a rugby festival event focused on individual players who sign up and are assigned to teams, rather than a city-based team tournament," says the Fog's DuBois. Since both the Bingham Cup and Gay Games VII will be held in the United States, Ryan, of the Gryphons, says his club may send a contingent to both events. Most non-sports fans might be more familiar with the sexy aspects of the sport through the Stade France Rugby calendars, photo book, and DVDs. Some gay teams – like the Seattle Quakes, the Caledonian Thebans, and the King's Cross Steelers – have even created their own similar calendars as fundraisers, featuring tasteful nude images of players in and out of the locker room. But some clubs without such merchandise seem eager to "doff their kits" (strip down) for any occasion. Countering the intense competition on the pitch (playing field), the postgame social events can be particularly rowdy, including traditionally bawdy songs. Some rituals even have their own terminology, like "Shoot the Boot" (drinking beer out of a shoe at a party) and going "Zulu" (losing team runs naked around the pitch). Why is such frequent nudity and horseplay, called "messing," common among rugby players? The Gryphons' Ryan jokes, "There's no way that rugby was invented by straight men. I would say it's the same socializing aspects that are present in fraternity rituals." "It's a bonding thing," says Costello, of the Emerald Warriors. "It's about making the fabric of the team strong, and a characteristic of most rugby players not to take themselves too seriously. Men are rarely allowed to be childish, and this [sport] endorses a certain amount of horseplay." Sloan, of the Diablos, says such diversions are commonplace on all teams. "We still do all those things that regular clubs do," he says, adding that "regular clubs have gay men on them whether they are out or not. We just happen to be out and comfortable with that." Primarily, he says, "Rugby is about playing the game." Jim Provenzano is the author of the novels PINS and Monkey Suits. Read more sports articles at www.sportscomplex.org Related stories Figure Skaters Focus on New Tournaments [20/12/2004] Johannesburg in bid for Gay Games 2010 [13/12/2004] For more info on Gay Sport in South Africa contact Gay Sport SA