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 An underrepresented group describes a subset of a population that holds a smaller percentage within a significant subgroup than the subset holds in the general population. Specific characteristics of an underrepresented group vary depending on the ...

, including people of color and gay men. "Our goal is to foster local, regional, national and international participation and competition in the game of Rugby Union Football, and to create an environment where members of the community can learn the laws and practice of Rugby, thus improving their capabilities as players." Since forming in 2004, the Mayhem have been fortunate enough to play against teams from Minnesota, across the country, and around the world. Mayhem RFC is a member of the

Minnesota Rugby Football Union The Minnesota Rugby Football Union (MNRFU) is the Local Area Union (LAU) for Rugby Union teams in the state of Minnesota. The MNRFU is part of the Midwest Rugby Football Union (MRFU), one of the seven Territorial Area Unions (TAU's) that comprise U ...

(MNRFU), the

Midwest Rugby Football Union The Midwest Rugby Football Union (MRFU) is a Territorial Union (TU) for rugby union teams playing in the Midwestern United States. It is one of seven TUs that governed a specific region of USA Rugby. It was founded in 1964. In 2013, USA Rugby reorg ...

(MRFU),

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 ru ...

, and

International Gay Rugby Association and Board International Gay Rugby (IGR), 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 ...

(IGRAB). The Division III club trains and plays regularly in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Harrison Park Harrison Park may refer to: * Harrison Park (Leek), a stadium in Leek, Staffordshire * Harrison Park (New Jersey), a former baseball ground in Harrison, New Jersey * Municipality of Harrison Park, a rural municipality in Manitoba * Harrison Park ...

History

Dave Peil, then owner of Grumpy’s Bar in Minneapolis, worked with a local rugby club The Metropolis RFC hosting fundraisers and third halves, tossed around the idea of starting a new predominantly gay rugby club. Following the model laid out in the “” primer by

San Francisco Fog RFC 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 traditional ...

founder Derrick Mickle, Peil set out generating interest through posters in bars, talking to whoever would listen, and starting a Yahoo Group (TCGayRugby) to communicate with interested people. The interest came in from around the country, board members from clubs in larger cities offering advice and words of caution that it may take a year to get enough players to field a team. By November 2004 the outline for the future of the club was in place. A short-term goal was enough members to make strong showing at the Pride Festival in June 2005, a major recruiting opportunity. The first board was elected on February 26 2005, naming newly founded team the Minneapolis Freeze. The name was then officially changed on March 6 when it was discovered there was an inactive club in Northern MN who had that name. The second choice of The Minneapolis Mayhem was chosen and continues today. The first practice was on March 2 2005, held under the Hennepin Avenue Bridge in Minneapolis. 22 people came out for the first practice. The cheer of the Mayhem is "Tahi! Rua! Toru! Mayhem! Mayhem! Mayhem!" which is "1, 2 ,3..." in Maori.

Bingham Cup

The Mayhem played in their first

Bingham Cup 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 cras ...

in 2006, hosted by the Gotham Knights in New York, NY. Just over 12 months after forming, the Minneapolis Mayhem placed 5th out of 10 teams in the Plate Division. The Minneapolis Mayhem submitted a bid to host the Bingham Cup in 2010. The only other team to submit a bid was the Sin City Irish RFC, a non- IGRAB, team. On January 21, 2009, it was announced that the Minneapolis Mayhem will host the 2010 Bingham Cup at the

National Sports Center The National Sports Center (NSC) is a multi-sport complex located in Blaine, Minnesota. Its site includes a soccer stadium, over 50 full-sized soccer fields, a golf course, a meeting and convention facility, and an eight-sheet ice rink, the Sup ...

Blaine, Minnesota Blaine is a suburban city in Anoka and Ramsey counties in the State of Minnesota, United States. Once a rural town, Blaine's population has increased significantly in the last 60 years. For several years, Blaine led the Twin Cities metro region ...

References

External links

* {{Inclusive Rugby Clubs Rugby union teams in the United States International Gay Rugby member clubs Sports in Minneapolis Rugby union teams in Minnesota