History
The USA Men's National Team, nicknamed the Eagles, won the Gold Medal in Olympic rugby in 1920 and 1924. After that time, rugby in the US stagnated while continuing to grow in other parts of the world; only recently has rugby started to become popular again in the US.
Beginning in the 1960s and continuing through the 1970s, the sport of rugby union enjoyed a renaissance in the USA. This created the need for a national governing body to represent the USA. In 1975 four territorial organizations (Pacific Coast, West, Midwest and East) gathered in Chicago, Illinois to form the United States of America Rugby Football Union (now known as USA Rugby).
In 1993, the Southern California RFU, a local area union of the Pacific Coast RFU, applied to become a separate territory. This was an impetus for others around the country to do the same, changing the make-up of USA Rugby, which now has seven territories (Pacific, Southern California, West, Midwest, South, Northeastern, and Mid-Atlantic).
USA Rugby lobbied for several years for a stop on the IRB Sevens World Series and finally was awarded it for 2004-6. The Home Depot Center in Carson, California, was the venue for the initial USA Sevens tournament. In the summer of 2006, the tournament was moved to Petco Park in San Diego. In 2010 and 2011, the tournament was held in Las Vegas at Sam Boyd Stadium.
USA Rugby is a Founding Sports Partner of the Sports Museum of America, joining more than 50 other single-sport Halls of Fame, national governing bodies, museums and other organizations across North America, to richly celebrate the history, grandeur and significance of sports in American culture. Opened in New York City on May 7, 2008, the Sports Museum of America showcases USA Rugby in its Hall of Halls Gallery, in return for their support of the creation of the Nation's first all-sports museum experience.
The rich history spanning 135 years of American rugby has been compiled in the documentary, A Giant Awakens: the Rise of American Rugby.
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“All history is a record of the power of minorities, and of minorities of one.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)