Founded in 1964, the Chicago Lions Rugby Football Club is a
USA Rugby
USA Rugby (officially the United States of America Rugby Football Union, Ltd.) is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. Its role is to achieve and maintain “high levels of quality in all aspects of rugb ...
club based in
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, United States.
The Chicago Lions namesake is taken from
the two large lion statues that guard the entrance to the
Art Institute of Chicago Building
The Art Institute of Chicago Building (1893 structure built as the ''World's Congress Auxiliary Building'') houses the Art Institute of Chicago, and is part of the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan Boulevard District in the Loop community are ...
.
Sponsorship
Notable sponsors include
Athletico Physical Therapy Athletico Physical Therapy is an Oak Brook, Illinois-based chain offering orthopedic rehabilitation originally founded in 1991 by physical therapist Mark Kaufman. The company started by providing rehabilitation services for student athletes at ...
, Oakmark International Funds, and CPH and Associates.
Notable players
The following is a list of former and current Lions players and coaches that have earned caps for international tests:
List of Lions players with international caps
Niue
*Stephen Tapuosi, one international cap
Ireland
*Paul McNaughton
Paul Peter Patrick McNaughton (18 November 1952 – November 2022) was an Irish rugby union, soccer and GAA player during the 1970s and 1980s. He was also manager of the Irish Rugby Team, a position he held from 2008 to 2011. He played rugby ...
, fifteen international caps
England
*Gary Wilson, two international caps
South Africa
*Kitch Christie
George Moir Christie, better known as Kitch Christie (31 January 1940 – 22 April 1998), was a South African rugby union coach best known for coaching the country's national team, the Springboks, to victory at the 1995 Rugby World Cup. He remai ...
, coached the 1995 Rugby World Cup winning Springboks
*Willie Kahts
Wilhelm Julius Heinrich Kahts (born 20 February 1947 in Pretoria, South Africa) is a former South African rugby union player.
Playing career
Kahts made his test debut for the Springboks on 31 May 1980 at Newlands in Cape Town against the tourin ...
*Harry Viljoen
Harry Viljoen is a South African former rugby coach and player. He coached the provincial teams of the Transvaal, Natal, and Western Province, before being appointed as coach of the South African national side. He retired as Springboks coach afte ...
, coached the 2001 Springboks
United States
*Andre Blom, fullback/wing, thirteen international caps[Player Profiles on usarugby.org](_blank)
*John Burke, flanker, two international capsPaul Emerick
Paul Emerick (born January 24, 1980) is the head coach of the American Raptors in Glendale, Colorado. He was the defense and skills coach and the 2019 interim head coach for the Houston SaberCats of Major League Rugby. He was a former USA intern ...
, centre, thirty-five international caps
References
External links
*
1964 establishments in Illinois
Rugby clubs established in 1964
Lions
The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult ...
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