July 31, 2007

BERKELEY - As Golden Bear Louis Stanfill vies for a spot on the U.S. National Team, which competes in the Rugby World Cup this September in France, the Pan American Games have voted to include rugby in the 2011 games in Guadalajara, Mexico.

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said the addition of rugby to the Pan Am Games makes the return of the sport to the Olympics "closer than ever."

The United States is the reigning champion in rugby at the Olympics, taking gold at the 1920 Games in Antwerp, Belgium, with California players George Davis, Matt Hazeltine, Charles Meighan, Colby "Babe" Slater, Charles Tilden and James Winston; and again at the 1924 Games in Paris with Bears George Dixon, Ed "Mush" Graff and Slater, who captained the Americans.

The Pan Am Games feature the United States and 39 other member countries, including several who have qualified for the Rugby World Cup--Argentina, a Tier 1 rugby nation, and Tier 2 nations Canada and Uruguay--as well as up-and-coming rugby powers such as Chile.

Efforts to reintroduce rugby at the Olympics have been ongoing by the International Rugby Board, which governs the sport worldwide. "The IRB is delighted that PASO (Pan American Sports Organization) has recognized the tremendous attraction and value of rugby," said IRB Chairman Dr. Syd Millar of rugby's Pan Am inclusion for 2011.

The 2007 Rugby World Cup--featuring the United States in pool play against England on Sept. 8, Tonga on Sept. 12, Samoa on Sept. 26 and South Africa on Sept. 30--is now the world's third-largest sporting event, behind only the FIFA World Cup and the Summer Olympic Games. Two million tickets have been sold for the tournament with an expected television audience of four billion in over 200 countries.