California Golden Bears rugby
 |
|
| Full name | California Golden Bears Rugby |
|---|---|
| Union | USA Rugby |
| Nickname(s) | Golden Bears |
| Founded | 1882 |
| Location | Berkeley, California |
| Ground(s) | Witter Field (Capacity: 5,000) |
| Coach(es) | Jack Clark |
| League(s) | PAC Rugby Conference |
| Official website | |
| www |
|
The Golden Bears have won 28 total championships since the national collegiate championships for rugby began in 1980. Current head coach and Cal alumnus Jack Clark took over the team in 1984, and has achieved prolonged success, leading the Bears to 24 national titles, including twelve consecutive championships from 1991 to 2002, five more consecutive titles from 2004 to 2008, and back-to-back titles in 2010 to 2011 and 2016 to 2017.
Cal also competes in the Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC), the highest profile college rugby tournament in the US. The CRC is held every June at PPL Park in Philadelphia, and is broadcast live on NBC. Cal reached the finals of the 2010 CRC, losing to Utah in the finals in sudden death extra time, and finished third in the 2012 CRC. Since 2013, Cal has won the championship 5 consecutive times.
Cal also competes for the "World Cup," which is awarded to the winner of the annual series between Cal and the University of British Columbia.
Cal Rugby's home is at 5,000-seat Witter Rugby Field, located near California Memorial Stadium in Strawberry Canyon.
Rugby union began play at Cal in 1882 and continued until 1886, when it was ditched in favor of American Football. Rugby would make a return in 1906 after football was deemed too dangerous to play. From 1906 to 1914, Cal rugby garnered a respectable 78-21-10 record. 1914, however, saw the return of football and Cal would not field a rugby team for almost 20 years.
Around the turn of the century American football was being frowned upon for its violence. During this period of uncertainty, rugby made a brief but important reappearance in many colleges, most notably at the University of California and at Stanford University. It was these two Universities, and Santa Clara University, that supplied most of the players to the two US Olympic rugby teams (1920 & 1924) who claimed fame by winning both Gold medals (as 1924 was the last time the Olympic Games staged a rugby competition, this will make the USA the defending Olympic Champions when rugby is re-introduced, after almost a century in 2016).
...
Wikipedia