"Until you're part of the Bgham Cup, you don't realise how big is," says Marc-Pl Stufkens, one of the anisers of the 'World Cup' of gay gby that will wele over 2000 players, ach, officials and supporters to Amsterdam this weekend.
Contents:
- WHAT MAK GAY GBY'S BGHAM CUP TOURNAMENT SO SPECIAL?
- INTERNATNAL GAY RUGBY PREPAR FOR BGHAM CUP
- ‘IT WAS A SUCCS BEFORE WE STEPPED ON THE PCH’: HOW OTTAWA’S BGHAM CUP LIVERED FOR THE GAY AND CLIVE GBY MUNY
- RUGBY’S ‘GAY WORLD CUP’ BEGS SPORTS BOSS TO DCH TRANS ATHLETE BANS: ‘IT’S G SER HARM’
- MARK BGHAM: THE 9/11 HERO BEHD GBY'S GAY WORLD CUP
WHAT MAK GAY GBY'S BGHAM CUP TOURNAMENT SO SPECIAL?
* bingham gay rugby world cup *
Shortly after a handful of gby unn clubs for gay and bisexual men om the UK and USA had found the Internatnal Gay Rugby Associatn and Board (IGRAB) October 2000, The Washgton Renegas held an rmal, ternatnal, vatnal tournament at their home DC May 2001.
INTERNATNAL GAY RUGBY PREPAR FOR BGHAM CUP
The eighth edn of the Bgham Cup, the world champnship of gay and clive gby, gets unrway on Friday Nashville, Tennsee. * bingham gay rugby world cup *
As a gay man and regular gby player, Mark not only played for San Francis Fog but also helped to set up Gotham Knights New York Cy and was well known throughout the fledglg IGR was credibly shockg that jt three month’s followg the vatnal, Mark would loose his life the September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks, onboard flight Uned October 2001, followg the 2001 vatnal, the San Francis Fog succsfully lobbied IGRAB for the right to put on a XVs gby tournament San Francis June tournament was fashned the style of the Rugby World Cup, wh both the tournament and cup prize named honor of Mark followg a unanimo cisn by all the members of IGRAB.
The tournament was first held 2002 memory of 9/11 gay gby hero Mark Bgham, one of the passengers who fought back agast hijackers on board Uned flight 93. The Bgham Cup brgs together gay and clive gby unn teams om all over the world (photo by Kev Stt). "Until you're part of the Bgham Cup, you don't realise how big is, " says Marc-Pl Stufkens, one of the anisers of the 'World Cup' of gay gby that will wele over 2000 players, ach, officials and supporters to Amsterdam this weekend.
Then all of a sudn, every two years, you see they're each part of this worldwi gay gby muny. " Gay gby clubs om all over the world are about to scend on Amstelveense, a suburb the south of the cy.
‘IT WAS A SUCCS BEFORE WE STEPPED ON THE PCH’: HOW OTTAWA’S BGHAM CUP LIVERED FOR THE GAY AND CLIVE GBY MUNY
<strong>Matt Cleary: </strong>The gay Rugby World Cup Sydney provis ee beer, cent gby and a real sense of sportg brotherhood and mararie * bingham gay rugby world cup *
The tournament self is the flagship event of Internatnal Gay Rugby and tak s name om Mark Bgham, who played for the San Francis Fog - a foundg member of IGR - and later tablished the Gotham Knights club New York Cy.
"There are a number of gay sports events - the Gay Gam, for example - but this is the only one that foc on gby unn. "It's a platform to help make gay people om all across the world visible.
" An exhibn of Bgham Cup photography lled 'Rugby Is My Pri' is beg held at this year's tournament Amsterdam (photo by Gvanni Caprtti) For gay gby clubs, the petn, muny and celebratn that the biennial Cup embodi serv as a bean, wherever they might be the world. There's a b of tongue cheek around the namg nventns too - the club om Baltimore, home of legendary gay movie director John Waters, are lled the Flamgos. "Team sport is different, pecially for gay men, " says Stufkens.
RUGBY’S ‘GAY WORLD CUP’ BEGS SPORTS BOSS TO DCH TRANS ATHLETE BANS: ‘IT’S G SER HARM’
We spoke to Bgham Cup 2022 print Jean-François Laberge and Internatnal Gay Rugby chair Karl Asugh-Gat about the upg tournament. * bingham gay rugby world cup *
" Teams om Holland, Swen and Canada are set to take on a World Barbarians XV a four-team women's petn at the Bgham Cup this year Stufkens scrib team sports culture for gay men as "a ltle more plited" than for their straight unterparts.
"There have been velopments, and be easier for people who are gay to start participatg team sports when they're younger, but the realy is that a lot of guys playg only e to at a later age. "Here the Netherlands, we might not need to talk about 'emancipatn' for gay people anymore, but visibily - to show across the world that this is happeng, that we're playg gby jt like any other person - is important. "I don't thk 's graed homophobia, 's more like people don't really get - and then when an cint , they're like 'oh s**t, now we unrstand aga'.
MARK BGHAM: THE 9/11 HERO BEHD GBY'S GAY WORLD CUP
The anisers of gby's "gay world cup" say the sport is at risk of g "ser harm" by excludg trans athlet. * bingham gay rugby world cup *
"Robbie Brennan, of London's Kgs Cross Steelers - the world's first gay gby club - unrstands gby's fay feel better than most. "Brennan's eback cid wh the fale to a landmark season for the Steelers, who won their league to earn promotn to the London Essex 3 divisn - the eighth tier of the English gby pyramid, and what will be the hight level at which a gay and clive team has ever played the UK. In an terview wh ESPN Scm 2014, she explaed how Mark, even though he was "a big guy full of nfince", faced difficulti life for beg gay.
The Bucks are part of Internatnal Gay Rugby (IGR), a work for clive teams loted all over the world. Acrdg to G Ventura, North Amerin tstee for IGR, Bgham’s spiratnal story has had “an enormo impact on the growth (of the) sport” the US and helped “migate the homophobia” gay athlet often enunter. As a gay man, he went on to play for IGR club the San Francis Fog and was stmental settg up New York’s Gotham Knights, another gay and clive team.