Berlin Bruisers
 | ||
| Union | International Gay Rugby Association and Board | |
|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Bruisers | |
| Founded | 2012 | |
| Location | Berlin, Germany | |
| President | Alex Craddock | |
| Coach(es) | vacant | |
| Captain(s) | Michael Mejda | |
| League(s) | Rugby-Regionalliga Nord-Ost | |
| ||
| Official website | ||
| www | ||
The Berlin Bruisers are a gay and inclusive rugby club based in Berlin, Germany. They were founded in 2012, and are the first team of its kind in Germany. Although they are a primarily gay rugby team, the club is open to anyone with an interest in playing rugby and includes members of all sexualities and gender identities. [1][2] The club is affiliated with International Gay Rugby. [3]
The Berlin Bruisers play in the German Rugby-Regionalliga North-East. They also participate in the Union Cup, and the Bingham Cup.
History[edit]
The Berlin Bruisers were founded in 2012 by Dave Egan. Their first training ground was at Tiergarten, and Tempelhofer Feld, with Michael Felts as coach. [4]
The first match was a friendly game against the Emerald Warriors on 16 March 2013 at Tempelhofer Feld, and was lost 45–22. [5][6][7]
Their first official match took place at Union Cup 2013 in Bristol against the Stockholm Berserkers.
They are also participated in the Union Cup (2013-Bristol, 2015-Brüssel, 2017-Madrid, 2019-Dublin), and the Bingham Cup (2018-Amsterdam).
First trainings were at Tiergarten, Volkspark Friedrichshain and Tempelhofer Feld (coach: Michael Felts), later at Berliner Sport-Club (coach: Santiago Rubio, Rodolfo Antonini), and since the season 2019/20 they have formed a joint team with the second team of the Berlin Grizzlies (coach: Rodolfo Antonini).
Crest and colours[edit]
The club colours are dark violet and white. The team crest is a shield with a bandaged head in form of a rugby ball on shoulders.
Bash About[edit]
Since 2014, the Berlin Bruisers have been organised a bi-annual barbarian rugby tournament in Berlin. At the first Bash About, Gareth Thomas, the Welsh and British Lions international was a guest coach.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bash About tournament had to be cancelled in 2020.
Documentary film[edit]
From 2016 to 2017 a documentary film about the Bruisers titled 'Tackling Life' was shot by Johannes List. It premiered in 2018, winning the Audience Award at Dok.fest München 2018 [8] and Best Documentary at the First Steps Awards 2018 .[9] The film was also shown at the Berlinale 2019 in the section Gast der Perspektive Deutsches Kino. [10][11]
Trivia[edit]
The Bruisers hold the Guinness World record for the most passes thrown per minute (237 Rugby ball passes in 3 Minutes). [12]
In 2018 the Berlin Bruisers performed in the video for the CSD anthem by Maksim Reimer. [13][14]
In 2019, the club was portrayed in a special edition of Meat Magazine. [15]
References[edit]
- ^ "Entry at the Exberliner". exberliner.com. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
- ^ "Entry at the FAZ (in German)". faz.net. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
- ^ "IGR - International Gay Rugby: Members". igrugby.org. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
- ^ "Training at Tiergarten in 2012". youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
- ^ "Berlin Bruisers vs.Dublin's Emerald Warriors". youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
- ^ "entry at the Taipei-Times". taipeitimes.com. 27 March 2013. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
- ^ "entry at the Rappler". rappler.com. 22 March 2013. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
- ^ "Dok.fest 2018". german-documentaries.de. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
- ^ "FIRST STEPS Awards 2018". firststeps.de. Archived from the original on 2018-09-25. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
- ^ "Berlinale 2019 Archive". berlinale.de. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
- ^ "imdb entry". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
- ^ "Guinness World Records entry". guinnessworldrecords.com. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
- ^ "Maksim Reimer presents the CSD anthem 2018". queer.de. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
- ^ "Maksim Reimer - Original Self (Video)". youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
- ^ "meat: The Berlin Bruisers". meatzine.com. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
