One of the biggest annual events for the Chicago Dragons Rugby Football Club doesn't even happen on the pitch, or anywhere near it. Pictured: Chicago Dragons member Paul Cannella ( left ) ; Dragons in a recent game. Photos courtesy of the Dragons
Instead, the entire Dragons' roster, along with its strong local support, will be at Sidetrack, 3349 N. Halsted, on Sat., May 3, 5-7 p.m., for the third-annual Bachelor Auction. Tickets are $20 in advance, or $25 at the door and include four drink tickets.
'The Bachelor Auction is always a blast. It brings out a ton of people and everyone has a great time,' said Paul Popp, 40, a Chicago native who was named the Dragons' president in January. He replaces Paul Cannella, a team member who has several successful local business ventures, including owning the Lakeview bar Scarlet.
'The Bachelor Auction is just a fun, fun day, and I really think it will be better than ever this year. We have some great packages [ up for auction ] , including a week stay in Hawaii.'
Also available at the auction:
—A wine-tasting for 20 ( $350 value )
—A four-hour Lake Michigan Yacht tour on a Wednesday night for fireworks
—A package for two to the 30th annual IML
—Use of a condo for one week on the island of Kauai
So which Dragon will draw the most money? Likely, Coach Andrew York or rookie Josh Restrick, Popp said with a smile.
'Josh is a rookie this year, with a lot of energy and is full of surprises. Andrew is a good-looking guy and has that dreamy kind of British accent that people tend to fall for.'
The Dragons are the first primarily gay rugby club in the Midwest. The Dragons are a Division III member of the Midwest and Chicago Area Rugby Football Unions.
'This is a different club than we've ever had. We're really putting forward a solid club, with some great rookies and some great returning players,' said Popp, who formerly was the team secretary. He has been a part of the team since the fall of 2004.
'On a personal level, I never expected to be this fully involved in a club. I had no idea that my sports career would get extended to the age of 36 [ in 2004 ] at such a competitive level so, for that, I'm absolutely grateful.'
The Dragons lost their spring opener to the University of Chicago, but optimism reigns that the team soon will win its first-ever CARFU match. 'We came really close last season and I think we have a good chance of grabbing that first [ CARFU ] win either late this spring or early next fall,' Popp said.
The Dragons will play in Fox Valley May 10, then play host to a special event May 17 at Lerner Park, 7000 N. Sacramento. They will be battling the Manhattan Shamrocks and Minneapolis Mayhem.
'May 17 will be a great day for us. We're not only playing a CARFU team, the Shamrocks, and also an IGRAB team from Minneapolis,' Popp said. 'We really like playing [ against ] both of those teams, so that will be a lot of fun.
'After the first game [ of the season, against the University of Chicago ] , I saw some really cool stuff. Some rookies really stepped up, really took charge. What I saw on the pitch was really solid play, but we're still missing some of the key ingredients that are keeping us from the breakaways.
'This season, our backs are really super strong. We've always had fast people, and I think we've learned over the years how to better get the balls out to the backs because getting the ball out to the backs is what ultimately puts points on the board. So this year I'm really confident that our backs are exceptional in comparison to past seasons.'
The Dragons' spring season is highlighted by the Bingham Cup, held in Dublin in mid-June. The Bingham Cup is an international rugby competition named in honor of Mark Kendall Bingham, one of the heroic victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Bingham was a top rugby player, playing for one of the USA's leading LGBT rugby teams, the San Francisco Fog RFC.
In 2002 a coalition of international LGBT rugby teams got together to create IGRAB, a body that promotes rugby as an all-inclusive non-discriminatory sport that everyone can play, regardless of sexuality. The formation of this body led to the inauguration of a new international rugby competition that became known as the Bingham Cup.
The first Bingham Cup, in 2002, was hosted by the San Francisco Fog, Bingham's home team. That year, eight teams traveled to California to compete over two days, with the Fog emerging as the cup's first winners. In 2004, the Bingham Cup was hosted by London's Kings Cross Steelers, with 20 teams from four countries competing, with the Fog again prevailing. New York's Gotham Knights took up the host mantle in 2006 and, along with the addition of a third day of match play, the Knights presided over a new mid-tier competition ( The Bowl ) and an inaugural women's competition. That year the Sydney Convicts won the Cup and Plate, and the Boston Ironsides won The Bowl.
'We have great expectations of what we're going to bring to the Bingham Cup, which will end our [ spring ] season,' Popp said. 'The Bingham Cup is a really important for us to get out in the world community, especially around all of the other gay teams around the world, if only to see how we compete. It's what rugby is all about. It's a social and competitive event. It really brings people together.'
See www.chicagodragons.org .
