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 “Starting a Club” primer by San Francisco Fog RFC 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.
Read more about this topic: Minneapolis Mayhem
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