The Mark Kendall Bingham Memorial Tournament, or the "Bingham Cup," is the biennial world championships of gay and inclusive rugby. The largest amateur rugby union tournament in the world, it was named after Mark Bingham, a former University of California, Berkeley rugby star who had played in the May 2001 tournament for the San Francisco Fog RFC and co-founded the Gotham Knights RFC. Bingham died in the September 11, 2001 attacks on board United Airlines Flight 93. According to Jon Barrett of The Advocate, he is generally accepted to be one of a group of passengers who fought with the hijackers aboard the flight, which eventually led to the hijackers crashing the plane into a vacant field in Pennsylvania instead of targets in Washington, D.C. We have competed in every Bingham Cup since our founding.

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Rome Bingham 2024!  

Bingham Cup 2024 will take the Ironsides to the city of romance in Rome, Italy! Our hopes are to bring full two sides to the tournament for the second time in our team's history! Doing this will be no small task and we are currently accepting sponsorships for our travel. Benefits include exposure on team social media, banners, and uniforms at an event attended by thousands of LGBTQ+ athletes from across the globe! If you're interested, please reach out to our VP or Marketing & Sponsorship at vicepresident@bostonironsides.org

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Past Bingham Cups  

Click on each past year to relive the memories! 

London 2004

This was the Boston Ironsides first trip to the Bingham Cup. We took an inexperienced squad of 24 players, almost all with less than 2 years’ experience, but had a great time. It was our first time playing any international teams, with 20 teams from four countries joining.
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​Highlights: Cutting the sleeves off when the hot and muggy weather proved too much for our heavy jerseys, and a fire alarm causing the whole closing party to be evacuated into the streets, where the party continued in earnest, joined by the London firefighters.

New York City 2006

Our second trip to the Bingham Cup in New York City with a stronger squad but still less than 25 players. Up to 29 sides from 22 clubs in 6 countries, and the first addition of the 3 tiers; Cup, Bowl and Plate. We had a hard-fought tournament, yet we won every match in the Bowl Division taking home the first hardware for the team with a win in double overtime against the Dallas Diablos.
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Highlights: Winning in 100-degree heat on Randall’s Island, where it was so hot the turf fields had heat distortion coming out of it, hearing the referee mutter under her breath “oh please make it” as we kicked what would be the winning field goal, and much Jameson being drank out of the Bingham Bowl by the victors!

Dublin 2008

The Ironsides took about 25 players and joined the 32 teams competing in a very rainy tournament. Mixed results in the Bowl Division (now up to four with the Cup, Plate, Bowl, and Shield) left the team happy but winless.
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Highlights: Friendships and connections made with the Emerald Warriors, bringing our own bagpiper who played us on, and playing on fields that were nicer than anything in the US.

Minneapolis 2010

The Ironsides lost a lot of players after Bingham Dublin - so many that we couldn’t field a full side. In late 2009, a couple of stubborn former players and some energetic new ones started rebuilding the team. We still didn’t have a competitive side when Bingham Minneapolis came around, but were able to send seven players. Our contingent joined Dublin’s Emerald Warriors and learned a whole new side of rugby culture from our Irish peers. They were a generous team and made sure we all got plenty of time on the pitch and plenty of fun off it. Through our combined efforts we won the inaugural Bingham Shield. A lot of what we learned from the Warriors came back with us to Boston where it was embraced by the reformed team.

Manchester 2012

​By 2012 the Ironsides had rebuilt and were able to send a full side and some subs to Manchester, England.  The first day of games was marred by some food poisoning; a "reward" from the previous night’s dinner at a local Pizza Hut. The next day was cold, wet, and miserable - never was a forward so happy to bind into the relative warmth of the scrum. By the end of the match, our scrum-half was shivering so hard we marched him right to the medical tent to avoid hypothermia. We had an excellent showing in our pool but finally fell to France in our final match.

Sydney 2014

The first time the Bingham Cup was held Down Under. Due to the time, distance, and budget required, it was tough pulling numbers together, and we came to a roster of about 19. The team played well but our small numbers were reduced further through injury and attrition, and we literally ran out of players and had to acquire barbarians just to finish our final match.

​Highlights: Five days in Fiji, including watching the Fiji national rugby union team in-person. Breathtaking views of the Sydney Opera House and Watson's Bay. Breaking the hotel elevators and washing machines. Playing in the cold, miserable rain. Quokkas. Thai Me Up.

Nashville 2016

The Ironsides sent a full roster, as well as a number of non-playing assistants, which made logistics and focusing just on playing a whole lot easier. We also had our own physical therapist, who helped with tape and minor injuries. The matches were hot and humid and exhausting.

​Highlights: Getting an ice bath to beat the heat and then every team copying us. Getting a second tent to give ourselves more shade and then every team copying us. Pickle juice. All of the teams eating together at the Vandy dining hall.

AMSTERDAM 2018

In Amsterdam, for the first time the Ironsides had too many players to fit onto one team. So, in addition to the main Ironsides team, we also had a hybrid team with Toronto, as well as a few other players playing for New York. The tournament itself was the largest ever, with more than 2,300 players, coaches, volunteers, staff, and various hangers-on. Both of our teams played really well but came up just short at their final matches.

​Highlights: Having team photographers document everything on this trip, which was incredible. Playing one match and then running across the campus to support the other Ironsides team. 

Ottawa 2022

Due to covid and the postponement of Bingham 2020, the Ironsides went north of the border in 2022. For the first time in our history, we sent not one but two full roster, as well as a number of non-playing assistants, which made logistics and focusing just on playing a whole lot easier.
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​Highlights: Going 4 - 0 in division two and being moved up to the Bingham division, were we finished 12th. Our best finished in this tournament.