[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 109 (Thursday, July 7, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1062]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         HONORING THE WASHINGTON RENEGADES RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, July 7, 2016

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask the House of 
Representatives to join me in honoring the Washington Renegades Rugby 
Football Club. Founded in 1998, the Renegades are the first rugby club 
in the United States to actively recruit gay players, and are a 
founding member of International Gay Rugby (IGR), an association that 
today is comprised of over 70 gay and gay-supportive rugby clubs 
worldwide.
  The Renegades represent Washington, D.C. in Division III and Division 
IV rugby. The club's Division III side is the three-time defending 
champions of the Mid-Atlantic Conference Central Division, having 
reached the national quarter/semi-finals in 2014. The club's Division 
IV side has also made two consecutive playoff appearances.
  Over this past Memorial Day weekend, the Washington Renegades 
finished the 2016 Bingham Cup Tournament in Nashville, Tennessee as the 
most successful club overall in attendance. The Bingham Cup is the 
Championship of IGR, and is named for gay rugby player Mark Bingham, of 
the San Francisco Fog Rugby Football Club, who lost his life on 
September 11, 2001. Bingham, along with fellow passengers and crew of 
United Flight 93, is widely credited with preventing the hijackers from 
reaching their intended target.
  Fielding three teams in three separate divisions, the Renegades A 
side (the Blues) reached the final four of the main competition--the 
Mark Bingham Cup--losing in the semifinal 15-5 to the eventual 
champions, the Melbourne Chargers from Melbourne, Australia. The 
Renegades B side (the Reds) won their division, defeating the Boston 
Ironsides 56-0 in the final to take the Mark Bingham Shield. The 
Renegades C side--affectionately called the ``Silver'' side due the age 
of some of its players--went to the finals of its competition, losing 
12-10 to the Lost Souls of Dallas, Texas in the Challenger Cup Final. 
The Renegades are already looking forward to another season in USA 
Rugby competition this fall as well as to the next Bingham Cup in 2018.
  The Renegades are more than just exceptional athletes; they are also 
exceptional citizens. They volunteer with such programs as Food and 
Friends, preparing hundreds of Thanksgiving meals for people living 
with HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening illnesses. They have held 
school supply drives and holiday toy drives, and have donated Nook 
electronic readers to schoolchildren. They have conducted rugby clinics 
for youth in the District of Columbia, and were featured in a series of 
after-school activities dedicated to having dads or father 
representatives participate in sports drills and related activities 
with their children. The Renegades have been recognized by the D.C. 
Mayor and D.C. Council for their athletic achievement and charitable 
activities, and by the U.S. Department of the Interior for their 
efforts in cleaning and maintaining the original Flight 93 Memorial in 
Shankesville, Pennsylvania.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask the House to join me in commending the Washington 
Renegades and wishing them continued success in the important work they 
do of modeling sporting excellence and breaking down barriers on the 
field, and serving the community off the field. The Washington 
Renegades are amateurs in the truest sense of the word, for the word 
``amateur'' derives from the Latin word for ``love.'' The Renegades do 
what they do not for money or glory, but for love--love for their 
teammates, love for their game, and love for the city and country they 
call home.

                          ____________________