1.
Alamo City Rugby Football Club
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The Alamo City Rugby Football Club is an American rugby union club that is based in San Antonio, Texas. Alamo City RFC plays in the Texas Rugby Union Mens Division 2 league, home matches are held at the Bowie Field rugby pitches located inside Brooks Park in southeast San Antonio, TX. The nickname for Alamo City Rugby is The Defenders, in 1983, the Alamo City Rugby Football Club was started by a small group of players who were interested in promoting rugby in the city of San Antonio, Texas. Over the years, the club has grown to support high school, collegiate, masters, military, a great achievement for the club was when the high school team received 2nd, 3rd, and 6th-place finishes in the National High School Championships. The fathering of the school program helped the club achieve its 501-3 status as a non-profit organization with exemption from state franchise. In 2001, Alamo City RFC expanded its club by starting a women’s side, most of the women had little exposure to rugby prior to joining Alamo City RFC, but quickly adapted to the change in rules and techniques. The womens team ceased operations in 2007 due to a dwindling numbers restricting them from fielding a side, another one of the club’s great accomplishments was obtaining the land for Bowie Field, which was named after Dr. Neil Bowie for his never-ending support to the club. The 10-acre site has a rugby playing pitch and a lighted practice pitch. The lighted practice pitch was named the Kevin Howell Memorial Pitch after the late Kevin Howell and this facility is San Antonio’s first and only of its kind. It is located south of Brooks City-Base on Goliad Rd. ACRFC contributes to the community of San Antonio by holding events and assisting in local charity fund raisers. The club has increased its ability to contribute to the community with their affiliation to the Harp and Shamrock Society, Target 90 Goals for San Antonio, Alamo City RFC has an annual presence delivering toys to children in support of the San Antonio Elf Louise Program. GLI Distributing has also assisted by giving generous contributions to Alamo City RFC, in addition, ACRFC members donate their time to the San Antonio Food Bank. In recent years, members of Alamo City Rugby have begun donating their time, specifically representing the Lone Star Chapter, ACRFC participates in the San Antonio CF Great Strides, and the CF Tower Climb. Participants will run a mile prior to running up the stairs of the Tower of the Americas in downtown San Antonio, in 2015, ACRFC started participating in the Special Olympics Texas Fire Truck Pull. Members of ACRFC raise money for the fee and extra for the event. The event consists of 12 members to pull a fire truck 40 yards, the team with the fastest averaged time wins. With more than 20+ teams entered each year, ACRFC has won the competition in 2015, in the spring of 1984, Alamo City RFC joined the Fiesta San Antonio Commission, and has since hosted the Alamo City Rugby Fiesta 7s Tournament annually. The Fiesta 7s tournament is held each spring in April during “Fiesta San Antonio”, Rugby sevens is played at the Fiesta Tournament, and is usually played in some type of round-robin tournament format
2.
USA Rugby
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USA Rugby is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. USA Rugby states its role as the governing body charged with achieving and maintaining high levels of quality in all aspects of rugby. USA Rugby is responsible for the promotion and development of the sport in the U. S. USA Rugby is a member of World Rugby and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. USA Rugby has over 115,000 members, the largest segment being college rugby with over 32,000 members, USA Rugby oversees 1,200 high school teams,900 college teams,700 senior club teams, and 400 youth teams. USA Rugby administers all United States national teams, senior mens and womens teams, the organization also sponsors college rugby for both sexes, although since the 2010–11 academic year the NCAA has designated womens rugby an emerging varsity sport. The headquarters for USA Rugby is located in Boulder, Colorado, Rugby International Marketing, a subsidiary of USA Rugby, operates TheRugbyChannel. TV, an over-the-top streaming service. In the 2009–10 Sevens World Series, the sevens team finished the season ranked 10th in the world. In 2010, USA Rugby became an Olympic Sport member of the United States Olympic Committee. In 2011, the International Rugby Board, now known as World Rugby, in 2014, the U. S. vs New Zealand match sold out Soldier Field in Chicago, drawing over 60,000 fans and setting a U. S. attendance record. In 2015, USA Rugby won the bid to host the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens in the San Francisco Bay Area, USA Rugby is governed by its Board of Directors and its Congress. The Board is composed of 9 members,6 independent directors,2 international athletes, Nigel Melville, former England captain, has been CEO and President of Operations of USA Rugby since October 11,2006. John Mitchell has been the Head Coach of the national team since January 2016. Mike Friday is the coach of the mens national sevens team. Peter Steinberg is the Womens Eagles Head Coach, and Ric Suggit is the coach of the Womens Sevens team. USA Rugby became a member of the International Rugby Football Board in 1987, the worldwide body would become the International Rugby Board in 1998 and World Rugby in 2014. USA Rugby does not hold a vote on WRs 28 member Executive Council—the majority of votes are held by the 8 founding nations—although NACRA members collectively hold one vote on the Executive Council. In December 2011, for the first time, USA Rugby placed a representative on the 10-man Executive Committee, Bob Latham, in his role as chair of Rugby Americas North, represents RAN on the Executive Committee. USA Rugby is a member of RAN, one of the six regional unions that comprise World Rugby, with over 80,000 registered rugby players, USA Rugby is the largest rugby member in RAN
3.
United States national rugby union team
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The United States mens national rugby union team, nicknamed the Eagles, represents the United States in the sport of rugby union. The national team is controlled by USA Rugby, which is a member of Rugby Americas North, until sevens made its debut at the 2016 Rio Games, the United States was the reigning Olympic champion in rugby, having won gold at the 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics. As of June 27,2016, the Eagles are ranked 17th in the world by the World Rugby Rankings and their highest ranking, achieved ahead of the 2007 World Cup, was 14th, their lowest ranking was 20th, following a winless campaign in the 2008 Churchill Cup. The highest profile tournament in which the Eagles play is the Rugby World Cup, the Eagles have played in all but one Rugby World Cup since the tournament began in 1987. The United States has expressed interest in hosting the 2027 Rugby World Cup, the United States competed in the Pacific Nations Cup every Summer from 2013 to 2015. Previously, the U. S. has competed in the now-defunct Churchill Cup, the contest was named the Americas Rugby Championship and began in 2016. The United States won the 2017 Americas Rugby Championship after drawing with Argentina XV and it was the United States first 15s title in over 90 years. Informal football games such as rugby became popular in the United States in the mid-19th century, Rugby union was played as early as 1872 among rugby clubs in the San Francisco Bay Area composed mainly of British expatriates. California lost to the Phoenix club 7–4, the first recorded rugby game in the U. S. place in May 1874 when Harvard University hosted McGill University. The game sparked an interest on college campuses nationwide, in 1876 Yale, Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia formed the Intercollegiate Football Association, which largely used the rugby code. In 1886 Harvards Oscar Shafter Howard introduced these rules to the campus of the University of California, American football was fierce, and as injuries mounted, the public became alarmed at its brutalities and President Theodore Roosevelt threatened to outlaw the sport. Beginning in 1906, rugby became the game of choice at Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley. Rugbys popularity, however, was lived, and the sport had died out by the outbreak of World War I. A California student team toured Australia and New Zealand in 1910, Australia obliged by touring North America in 1912, and the U. S. national team played its first international match on November 16,1912 against Australia in Berkeley, California. A year later, the U. S. hosted New Zealand at the venue on November 15,1913. Rugby union had not been played competitively in most of the USA for more than a decade before the 1920 Olympics. The U. S. Olympic committee decided that because California is the state playing Rugby in the US. The U. S. assembled mostly a California-based team, with six players from the University of California, the Olympic Games Committee of the Amateur Athletic Union paid the expenses to transport the team from California to the games in Antwerp
4.
Rugby World Cup
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The Rugby World Cup is a mens rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament was first held in 1987, when the tournament was co-hosted by New Zealand, New Zealand are the current champions, having defeated Australia in the final of the 2015 tournament in England. Four countries have won the trophy, New Zealand have won it three times, two teams have won twice, Australia and South Africa, while England have won it once, the tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sports international governing body. Sixteen teams were invited to participate in the tournament in 1987. Japan will host the event in 2019. Qualifying tournaments were introduced for the tournament, where eight of the sixteen places were contested in a twenty-four-nation tournament. The remaining twelve positions were filled by continental qualifying tournaments, positions were filled by three teams from the Americas, one from Asia, one from Africa, three from Europe and two from Oceania. Another two places were allocated for repechage, the second repechage position was determined between the runners-up from the Asia and Oceania qualifiers. The qualification system for the eight places is region-based, with a total eight teams allocated for Europe, five for Oceania. The last place is determined by an intercontinental play-off, the 2015 tournament involved twenty nations competing over six weeks. There were two stages, a pool and a knockout, Nations were divided into four pools, A through to D, of five nations each. The teams were seeded before the start of the tournament, with the seedings taken from the World Rankings in December 2012, the four highest-ranked teams were drawn into pools A to D. The next four highest-ranked teams were drawn into pools A to D. The remaining positions in each pool were filled by the qualifiers, Nations play four pool games, playing their respective pool members once each. A bonus points system is used during pool play, if two or more teams are level on points, a system of criteria is used to determine the higher ranked, the sixth and final criterion decides the higher rank through the official World Rankings. The winner and runner-up of each pool enter the knockout stage, the knockout stage consists of quarter- and semi-finals, and then the final. The winner of each pool is placed against a runner-up of a different pool in a quarter-final, the winner of each quarter-final goes on to the semi-finals, and the respective winners proceed to the final. Losers of the semi-finals contest for third place, called the Bronze Final, if a match in the knockout stages ends in a draw, the winner is determined through extra time
5.
Division 1-A Rugby
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Division 1-A Rugby is the highest level of college rugby within the United States and is administered by USA Rugby. The regular season all teams in the conference play one another. Playoffs are a single-elimination format, occurring each year in April and May, regular seasons for most conferences are played in the spring, although some cold-weather conferences, such as the Big Ten Universities, play their regular season in the fall. The competitions first season was played during 2011 and consisted of teams from 31 schools from across the United States. The first ever match of the competition was played on Friday March 4, the 2011 final was played at Rio Tinto Stadium, in Sandy, Utah, on the 21 May 2011. D1-A Rugby secured sponsorships in 2012 with World Rugby Shop and Veloce, several players who have excelled in the top level competitions in college rugby have also represented their country as part of the United States national under-20 rugby union team. In 1874 McGill organized two games of football against Harvard, one was played under Harvard’s rules, the other being a game of rugby, after this game, the Harvard students also decided to adopt rugby, making them the first American institution to do so. 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. It was Stanford that supplied most of the players to the two US Olympic rugby teams, along with Santa Clara University and the University of California, who claimed fame by winning both Gold medals. In 1934, there was only one official rugby body in the United States, by 1950, there were 30 clubs in the US, existing only in small pockets on the East and West Coasts. The formation of the United States of America Rugby Football Union in 1976 was an organizational milestone for the sport in the USA. In 2011, there were 2433 clubs in the United States with more than 88,000 registered players, because of these issues, and to raise the level of rugby in the consciousness of the American public, USA Rugby restructured Division 1 college rugby. In 2010, several of the top college teams agreed to form the College Premier League to begin play in spring 2011, USA Rugby and the top colleges believed that an elite level college rugby competition would make it easier to get college rugby onto TV and attract sponsors. USA Rugby also believed that a higher level college competition would develop players to play for the U. S. national team. The earliest claims to a national title go back to the mid-1960s when Sports Illustrated Magazine started demonstrating an interest in Collegiate rugby, the first official National Collegiate Championship series began in 1980. Between 1980 and 2010 each Territory qualified Division One and Two teams for the Sweet 16 of a D1, California was dominant in Division One for the 31 years that the competition was run in this format, winning 26 titles. Air Force has won three titles, San Diego State and Brigham Young University have each won one D1 national championship. First Season of the College Premier Division Funding for Cal Rugby, life University participated in its first playoff game in school history BYU hosted its first rugby playoff game in club history
6.
USA Sevens
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The USA Sevens is a rugby sevens tournament held annually during the second weekend of February in Las Vegas in the United States. The USA Sevens is the largest annual competition in North America, drawing over 60,000 fans. The USA Sevens was introduced in 2004, and has held at its current home. The USA Sevens tournament features 16 teams representing countries from every continent, including the host, the USA Sevens is the fifth of ten tournaments on the Sevens World Series. The Sevens World Series is played throughout the world at nine other venues, Australia, Dubai, South Africa, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada, France, the tournament consists of 16 countries participating in 45 matches over a three-day weekend. The 16 teams are divided into four pools of four teams, wins are worth three points, draws two, and losses one. The top two teams each group progress to the quarterfinals to compete for the Cup and Plate. The bottom two teams each group participate in the Bowl and Shield competitions. Starting with the 2012–13 season, the number of teams increased from 12 to 15, with Canada, Spain. The USA Sevens is the largest annual competition in North America. The tournament has grown in popularity since the tournament began in 2004. S, national rugby team including their success in reaching the semi-finals of the 2009 USA Sevens, and NBCs decision to begin televising the tournament beginning in 2011. Tournament attendance has grown rapidly since its inception in 2004, the tournament drew 15,800 fans in 2004,25,000 fans in 2007,35,773 in 2008, and 37,000 fans in 2009. The tournament switched to a format in 2011. The 2012 tournaments second-day attendance of 30,112 set a new record for the largest crowd to watch an event in the United States. The 2013 tournament broke records again, with total attendance of 67,341. The 2014 tournament again saw record attendance, with 68,608 fans, NBC Sports and Universal Sports broadcast eight hours of live coverage of the 2011 tournament, including 4 hours of coverage on NBC. NBC increased its coverage for the 2012 tournament, showing 10 hours of live coverage. The 2012 USA Sevens earned strong ratings of 0.7 on NBC, beating other popular events that weekend such as the Detroit v. Philadelphia NHL game
7.
World Rugby Sevens Series
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Teams compete for the World Rugby Sevens Series title by accumulating points based on their finishing position in each tournament. New Zealand had originally dominated the Series, winning each of the first six titles from 1999–2000 to 2004–05, as of the 2015–16 season, the seasons circuit consists of 10 tournaments in 10 countries, and visits five of the six populated continents. Australia, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, New Zealand, Canada, two previous host countries, Singapore and France, returned to the circuit for the 2015–16 season to replace Japan and Scotland, and a completely new tour stop in Canada was also added. The first international Rugby sevens tournament was held at Scotland, which was celebrating a century of the Scottish Rugby Union, seven international teams took part in the first tournament, which had England taking the trophy. In 1976, the Hong Kong Sevens tournament began, the first season of the World Sevens Series began in 1999. Dubai hosted the first event which was won by New Zealand, New Zealand won the first six seasons and was the favourite for the 2005–06 season. But it wasnt to be, as they didnt make to any of the cup finals that year, the main two teams that were in contention for that year were Fiji and England. Fiji would clinch that season trophy on the last day of the season at London when they defeated Kenya in the finals of the cup tournament. New Zealand would finish fourth before regaining the trophy in 2006–07 season in the last tournament of the season, South Africa was the next team to win the series after taking home the 2008–09 title in London. The 2011–12 season was the last season to have 12 core teams with an expansion to a 15 teams that had core status being played out at Hong Kong and those teams that would join the 12 core teams for the next season would be Canada, Spain and Portugal. Only Spain hasnt made it back after being relegated in the 2014–15 season, the Japan event also made a return for the first time since 2001 but New Zealand kept the dominance by finishing on top. Argentina was originally planned to begin hosting an event in the 2012–13 season, giving the tour an event on each continent. 2012–13 was meant to have another round being added with Mar Del Plata being the venue, but when Argentina join the Rugby Championship the tournament was cancelled which meant that with the same schedule, New Zealand again would be the winners by 41 points over South Africa. They would take it again in 2013–14 with Spain being the first team to be relegated after finishing last during that season with Japan replacing them. Heading into the season, rugby sevens was approved as an Olympic sport with the top four teams qualifying to the 2016 Summer Olympics. Fiji, South Africa, New Zealand and Great Britain all qualifying through, Fiji would reclaim the title that they won the previous season in which,5 different winners including two new first time winners in Kenya and Scotland won a tournament. For a list of hosts, see World Rugby Sevens Series hosts The tour received 1,147 hours of air time in 2005–06,530 of which was live. By 2008–09, the hours of air time had increased to over 3,300, broadcast time increased further in 2009–10, with 3,561 hours of air time carried by 34 broadcasters in 141 countries and 16 languages
8.
Rugby union
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Rugby union, known in some parts of the world simply as rugby, is a contact team sport which originated in England in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its most common form, a game is between two teams of 15 players using a ball on a rectangular field with H-shaped goalposts on each try line. Historically an amateur sport, in 1995 restrictions on payments to players were removed, World Rugby, originally the International Rugby Football Board and from 1998 to 2014 the International Rugby Board, has been the governing body for rugby union since 1886. Rugby union spread from the Home Nations of Great Britain and Ireland, early exponents of the sport included Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and France. Countries that have adopted rugby union as their de facto national sport include Fiji, Georgia, Madagascar, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, Rugby union is played in over 100 countries across six continents, there are 101 full members and 18 associate members of World Rugby. The Rugby World Cup, first held in 1987, takes place four years with the winner of the tournament receiving the Webb Ellis Cup. The Six Nations Championship in Europe and The Rugby Championship in the Southern Hemisphere are major annual competitions. The origin of football is reputed to be an incident during a game of English school football at Rugby School in 1823. Although the evidence for the story is doubtful, it was immortalised at the school with a plaque unveiled in 1895, despite the doubtful evidence, the Rugby World Cup trophy is named after Webb Ellis. Rugby football stems from the form of game played at Rugby School, Old Rugbeian Albert Pell, a student at Cambridge, is credited with having formed the first football team. During this early period different schools used different rules, with pupils from Rugby. Other important events include the Blackheath Clubs decision to leave the Football Association in 1863, despite the sports full name of rugby union, it is known simply as rugby throughout most of the world. The first rugby football international was played on 27 March 1871 between Scotland and England, by 1881 both Ireland and Wales had representative teams, and in 1883 the first international competition, the Home Nations Championship had begun. 1883 is also the year of the first rugby tournament, the Melrose Sevens. During the early history of union, a time before commercial air travel. The first two notable tours both took place in 1888—the British Isles team touring New Zealand and Australia, followed by the New Zealand team touring Europe, All three teams brought new styles of play, fitness levels and tactics, and were far more successful than critics had expected. After Morgan began singing, the crowd joined in, the first time a national anthem was sung at the start of a sporting event, in 1905 France played England in its first international match
9.
College rugby union in the United States
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College rugby, more specifically rugby union, is played throughout universities in the United States of America. College rugby is governed by USA Rugby, and does not fall under the auspices of the NCAA with the exception of 15 NCAA womens programs, Womens Rugby has been classified as an NCAA Emerging Sport since 2002. There are over 900 college teams—male and female—registered with USA Rugby, there are over 32,000 college players registered with USA Rugby, making college rugby the largest section of USA Rugbys membership. Today, college rugby continues to grow in popularity, and rugby is one of the fastest growing sports across college campuses. The 32,000 registered college players in 2010 marked a 14% increase from 28,000 college players in 2008, over 180 college rugby clubs started between 2010 and 2014. The National Small College Rugby Organization grew from 85 teams in 2007 to 151 teams in 2011, there has been increased interest in college rugby from TV since the International Olympic Committees announcement in 2009 that rugby would return to the Summer Olympics in 2016. The highest profile college rugby competition is the Collegiate Rugby Championship. The CRC, which is played every June at PPL Park in Philadelphia, is televised live by NBC Sports, in 2015, the CRC set a new attendance record with over 24,000 spectators. Several top schools started a competition in 2013 called the Varsity Cup, College club rugby includes a national championship competition. California has won the majority of titles, with Air Force, in 2011 a new Division 1-A was created with approximately 30 schools forming the new division. In the United States, college rugby is governed by, USA Rugby, geographical unions, USA Rugby has established a College Management Committee and a collegiate director, Rich Cortez, to oversee college rugby. The NCAA has no authority over college rugby, often called a club sport, each college team is administered by either the athletic department or the student club department. In 2011, USA Rugby continued to urge college rugby programs to new conference structures similar to the conferences used by their other athletic programs. The highest profile example was the formation of the Ivy Rugby Conference in 2009 and this move signals a shift away from the LAUs and TUs as the governing bodies for regional college rugby. Conferences establish playing schedules in the season, while in the secondary season the teams often set up friendly matches or focus on playing rugby sevens. USA Rugby maintains player eligibility guidelines, administered by the local area unions, College players generally have five years of rugby eligibility from the time they graduate high school. On-field disciplinary issues are handled by the local area unions, while off-field disciplinary issues are governed by the academic institution. USA Rugbys CIPP insurance program provides liability insurance to players, teams, administrators, roughly one quarter of college rugby programs offer financial aid to their players
10.
Sam Boyd Stadium
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Sam Boyd Stadium is a football stadium in Whitney, Nevada, United States, an unincorporated community in the Las Vegas Valley. It honors Sam Boyd, a figure in the hotel. The stadium consists of an uncovered horseshoe-shaped single-decked bowl, with temporary seating occasionally erected in the north end zone. The field has a conventional north-south orientation and is at an elevation of 1,600 feet above sea level, the stadium is the home of the UNLV Rebels football team from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the annual Las Vegas Bowl in December. It is also used for high school championship games and at times regular-season high school games for Bishop Gorman High School. The final race of the Monster Energy Supercross series is located here every year, since 2010, it has hosted the USA Sevens leg of the annual World Rugby Sevens Series in the sevens version of rugby union. The stadium was completed 46 years ago on October 23,1971, originally known as Las Vegas Stadium, the name was changed to Las Vegas Silver Bowl in 1978, Sam Boyd Silver Bowl in 1984 and Sam Boyd Stadium in April 1993. The seating capacity was 15,000 from 1971 until 1977, raised to 32,000 in 1978, except from 1999 to 2002, the stadium has had an artificial turf surface. A $1.2 million renovation during the summer of 2015 replaced field turf that hadn’t been changed out in more than a decade and was worn from usage. Additionally, two rows totaling 860 seats were removed from the east and west sidelines to widen the field, with the Oakland Raiders move to Las Vegas a new stadium tentatively called Las Vegas Stadium will be built. The UNLV Rebels will join the Raiders at the new stadium in 2020, the exact future of the stadium remains up in the air, as UNLV officials are considering selling it or turning it into a Raiders practice facility. Since 1992, the stadium has been the site of the annual Las Vegas Bowl, in recent years, the game has been very well attended. In 2005, Brigham Young University made its first postseason appearance since 2001 and excited BYU fans over-filled the stadium, the following season, BYU returned to the Las Vegas Bowl as a nationally-ranked team. Additional seating was arranged at Sam Boyd Stadium for the 2006 game, in 2007, BYU made its third straight appearance and attendance was 40,712. BYU made its fourth straight appearance 2008, ranked #16 in the nation, Arizona won the contest, 31–21,40,047 attended the game which featured David Hasselhoff singing the national anthem. Sam Boyd Stadium was also the site of all three Western Athletic Conference title football games, following the 1976 season of the North American Soccer League, the San Diego Jaws decided to relocate and become the Las Vegas Quicksilvers. Despite a roster featuring international superstar Eusébio, the Quicksilvers could only manage an 11–15 record and they averaged an attendance of 7,092 per game. When the 1977 season ended, the franchise opted to back to San Diego after only one year
11.
Talen Energy Stadium
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Talen Energy Stadium is an American soccer-specific stadium located in Chester, Pennsylvania and is home to the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer. The project is the result of combined commitments of $30 million from Delaware County, Talen Energy is the stadiums naming rights sponsor. The stadium is located on Chesters waterfront along the Delaware River, the stadium was constructed by T. N. Ward Company, which is based in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, initially, Major League Soccer was interested in a site in the borough of Bristol, Pennsylvania, about 23 miles north of Center City, Philadelphia. Those plans never came to fruition, later, Rowan University provided details for a soccer stadium near its campus in Glassboro, New Jersey. However, funding from the state of New Jersey fell through in 2006, after many months of negotiations, Delaware County politicians announced their approval of funding for the stadium in October 2007. Delaware County owns the land and the stadium itself, while the team owns the rights based on their approval of a 30-year lease. The newly formed Delaware County Sports Authority pays the countys share of $30 million through taxes from the Harrahs Chester harness racing track, an additional $80 million was donated by private investors. On January 31,2008, Governor Ed Rendell and Pennsylvania Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, unveiled a combined soccer stadium and economic revitalization package for the city of Chester. In phase two, another 200 apartments will be built, along with 100,000 square feet of space and 22,000 square feet of retail space. Construction delays led to the Philadelphia Unions decision to play their home game at Lincoln Financial Field instead of Talen Energy Stadium. Their first match at the stadium was played on June 27,2010, sébastien Le Toux scored the Unions first goal at the stadium on a penalty kick. However, Pat Noonan of Sounders FC scored the first goal in the venues history, the stadiums record attendance was achieved on July 25,2012, for the 2012 MLS All-Star Game when the MLS All-Stars defeated Chelsea FC 3–2 in front of 19,236 fans. Due to consistently high attendance and ticket sales, in 2011 the Philadelphia Union expressed interest in expanding the capacity of the stadium. The planned expansion would occur in three phases, initially to 20,000, then to 27,000, and finally to approximately 30,000, Talen Energy Stadium has hosted the Collegiate Rugby Championship every June since 2011. The Collegiate Rugby Championship is the highest profile college rugby competition in the United States, over 17,800 fans attended the 2011 tournament. Talen Energy Stadium hosted its first rugby union international on November 9,2013, a sold out crowd of 18,500 witnessed a hard-fought match in which the visiting New Zealand Māori All Blacks won 29-19. The first college football game played at Talen Energy Stadium was the Battle of the Blue on November 19,2011 and these same two teams met again on November 23,2013, with Villanova beating Delaware 35-34
12.
Philadelphia
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In 1682, William Penn, an English Quaker, founded the city to serve as capital of the Pennsylvania Colony. Philadelphia was one of the capitals in the Revolutionary War. In the 19th century, Philadelphia became an industrial center. It became a destination for African-Americans in the Great Migration. The areas many universities and colleges make Philadelphia a top international study destination, as the city has evolved into an educational, with a gross domestic product of $388 billion, Philadelphia ranks ninth among world cities and fourth in the nation. Philadelphia is the center of activity in Pennsylvania and is home to seven Fortune 1000 companies. The Philadelphia skyline is growing, with a market of almost 81,900 commercial properties in 2016 including several prominent skyscrapers. The city is known for its arts, culture, and rich history, Philadelphia has more outdoor sculptures and murals than any other American city. Fairmount Park, when combined with the adjacent Wissahickon Valley Park in the watershed, is one of the largest contiguous urban park areas in the United States. The 67 National Historic Landmarks in the city helped account for the $10 billion generated by tourism, Philadelphia is the only World Heritage City in the United States. Before Europeans arrived, the Philadelphia area was home to the Lenape Indians in the village of Shackamaxon, the Lenape are a Native American tribe and First Nations band government. They are also called Delaware Indians and their territory was along the Delaware River watershed, western Long Island. Most Lenape were pushed out of their Delaware homeland during the 18th century by expanding European colonies, Lenape communities were weakened by newly introduced diseases, mainly smallpox, and violent conflict with Europeans. Iroquois people occasionally fought the Lenape, surviving Lenape moved west into the upper Ohio River basin. The American Revolutionary War and United States independence pushed them further west, in the 1860s, the United States government sent most Lenape remaining in the eastern United States to the Indian Territory under the Indian removal policy. In the 21st century, most Lenape now reside in the US state of Oklahoma, with communities living also in Wisconsin, Ontario. The Dutch considered the entire Delaware River valley to be part of their New Netherland colony, in 1638, Swedish settlers led by renegade Dutch established the colony of New Sweden at Fort Christina and quickly spread out in the valley. In 1644, New Sweden supported the Susquehannocks in their defeat of the English colony of Maryland
13.
Delaware Valley
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The Delaware Valley is the valley through which the Delaware River flows. By extension, this toponym is commonly used to refer to the Philadelphia metropolitan area, the Delaware Valley Metropolitan Area is located at the southern part of the Northeast megalopolis extending from Boston to Washington, D. C. metropolitan areas. The MSA has a population of over 6 million, while the CSA has a population of over 7.1 million. Philadelphia, being the major commercial, cultural, and industrial center. As of March 2011, the Philadelphia–Camden–Wilmington, PA–NJ–DE–MD Metropolitan Statistical Area constitutes the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the United States, Philadelphias media market ranks fourth, behind New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago, in Nielsen Media Market size rankings. It also borders the New York metropolitan area located directly to the north of this area, such educational institutions as Delaware Valley Regional High School in Alexandria Township and Delaware Valley College in Doylestown Township are named after the region. Likewise, Frenchtowns now defunct newspaper The Delaware Valley News was another example of the usage, although much of the Trenton MSA is considered part of the Delaware Valley and often considered part of Philadelphias media market area, it is classified as part of New Yorks CSA. Within the Hispanic population, the vast majority are Puerto Ricans, there is a significant West Indian community. There is even a small Native American community known as Lenapehoking for Lenni-Lenape Indians of West Philadelphia. Philadelphias suburbs contain a concentration of malls, the two largest of which have at least 5,000,000 square feet of office space. Malls, office complexes, strip shopping plazas, expressways, and tract housing are common sights, and more and more continue to replace rolling countryside, farms, woods, and wetlands. However, due to opposition by residents and political officials. Older townships and large boroughs such as Cheltenham, Norristown, Jenkintown, Upper Darby, the fastest-growing counties are Chester, Montgomery, Bucks, and Gloucester. Upper Darby, in Delaware County is the largest township in the United States, sometimes Reading is included in the Delaware Valley Metro Area. The Delaware Valley has four seasons with ample precipitation and is divided by the 0 °C January isotherm. The region has two ski areas, Bear Creek Ski and Recreation Area in eastern Berks County and Spring Mountain in central Montgomery County. Using the -3 °C January isotherm as a boundary, all of the Delaware Valley is humid subtropical except for portions of Berks County, the warm-summer humid continental climate only exists in higher areas of Berks where all monthly temperatures average below 22 °C. The valley was the territory of the Susquehannock and Lenape, who are recalled in place throughout the region
14.
Chester, Pennsylvania
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Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a population of 33,972 at the 2010 census. Chester is situated on the Delaware River, between the cities of Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware, the current mayor of Chester, Thaddeus Kirkland, was elected on November 3,2015 and served his first day in office on January 4,2016. The first European settlers in the area were Swedes and they called the settlement that became Chester first Finlandia, then Upland. They built Fort Mecoponacka in 1641 to defend the settlement, by 1682, Upland was the most populous town of the new Province of Pennsylvania. On October 27, the ship Welcome arrived at the town, Penn renamed the settlement for the English city of Chester. Chester served as the county seat for Chester County, which stretched from the Delaware River to the Susquehanna River. In 1789, the city became the county seat for the newly created Delaware County, the courthouse is near the new City Hall building. Chesters naval shipyard supplied the Union during the Civil War, the Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. later Pennsylvania Shipyard & Dry Dock Company, was located in Chester until it closed in 1990. Two ships of the United States Navy have been named USS Chester in honor of the city, on April 10,1917, an explosion at the Eddystone Ammunition Corporation near Chester resulted in the deaths of 133 workers, mostly women. Chester is one of places that claim to be the birthplace of the hoagie sandwich. It is also known as the Cradle of Rock n Roll, poverty and crime rose as the city declined. In 1995, the state designated Chester as a distressed municipality. When Chester became eligible for Pennsylvanias Keystone Opportunity Zone program, firms began to accept state, one of its tenants is AdminServer, which makes software for the insurance industry. It moved from Malvern, Pennsylvania in 2003 and was acquired by Oracle in 2007, another one of the Wharfs tenants is Power Home Remodeling Group, the nations 2nd largest exterior home remodeling company. Harrahs Casino and Racetrack built its facilities beginning in 2005, launching harness racing along the Delaware River in September 2006, the employment status for workers sixteen and older, and not in the labor force is at 41 percent. Chester has a government system, consisting of a popularly elected city mayor. The terms of the mayor and members are four years, the Chester City Council is made up of four members, Councilwoman Elizabeth Williams, Portia West, William A. Jacobs, and Edith Blackwell and the presiding officer, the mayor, Thaddeus Kirkland. The City Controller is currently Ms. Edith Blackwell, the current mayor of the City of Chester is State Rep. Thaddeus Kirkland who won the Democratic nomination in May 2015 over incumbent Mayor John Linder
15.
Flint Rogues Rugby Club
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Back in 1972, the game was not as widespread in the State of Michigan as it is now and the Rogues were one of the first senior mens rugby teams in the state. The original uniform was red/white/blue in color but was replaced with the current colors of red/white/black, in 1976, the Flint Rogues were a top contender in the State of Michigan. The club traveled to many tournaments out of state as far as Missouri, in 1980, the club brought home the B Division Championship for the Michigan Rugby Union in 1980 and also a Consolation Trophy for the B Division at the Great Lakes Rugby Tournament in Detroit. In 1984, the Flint Rogues won the Michigan Cup, First Division state title, in 1990, the Rogues won the Division II Michigan Cup, winning it again in 1992. In 1993, the Rogues won the Battle Creek 7s tournament, the club experienced a good run from the late 1990s and into the early 2000s, being promoted to Division II of the Michigan Rugby Union. The club won the Division II Michigan Cup consecutively in 2002 and 2003, after a winless season in 2008, the Rogues rebounded, posting a 5-1 record in the 2009 spring season. The Rogues had a perfect fall 2010 season, going 7-0, winning Midwest Rugbys Northern League championship, the Flint Rogues RFC have had Budweiser as their primary shirt sponsor for over a decade, the Rogues also have several secondary sponsorships from many local businesses as well
16.
World Rugby
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World Rugby, previously known as the International Rugby Board until 2014, is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sports most recognised and it also organises a number of other international rugby competitions, such as the World Rugby Sevens Series, the World Under 20 Championship, and the Pacific Nations Cup. World Rugbys headquarters are in Dublin, Ireland and its membership now comprises 119 national unions. Member countries must each also be members of one of the six regional unions into which the world is divided, Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and the Caribbean, South America, and Oceania. World Rugby was founded as the International Rugby Football Board in 1886 by Scotland, Wales and Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa became full members in 1949. France became a member in 1978 and a further eighty members joined from 1987 to 1999, the body was renamed the International Rugby Board in 1998, and took up its current name in November 2014. In 2009, the International Olympic Committee voted to include rugby sevens in the 2016 Summer Olympics, World Rugby gained membership of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations in 2010. Until 1885 the laws of football were made by England as the founder nation. However, following a try in an international between Scotland and England in 1884, letters were exchanged in which England claimed that they made the laws. Scotland refused to play England in the 1885 Home Nations Championship, following the dispute, the home unions of Scotland, Ireland and Wales decided to form an international union whose membership would agree on the standard rules of rugby football. The three nations met in Dublin in 1886, though no formal regulations were agreed upon, England refused to take part in the founding of the IRFB, stating that they should have greater representation, as they had more clubs. The England Union also refused to accept the IRFB as the recognised lawmaker of the game and this led to the IRFB taking the stance of member countries not playing England until they joined, and no games were played against England in 1888 and 1889. In 1890 England joined the IRFB, gaining six seats while the unions had two each. The same year, the IRFB wrote the first international laws of rugby union, in 1893, the IRFB was faced with the divide between amateurism and professionalism, which was nicknamed the Great Schism. Following the introduction of working men to the game in Northern England, clubs began paying broken time payments to players. Cumberland County Union also complained of another club using monetary incentives to lure players, the IRFB was warned by all the chief clubs in Lancashire and Yorkshire that any punishment would lead to the clubs seceding from the union. The debate over broken time payments ultimately caused the 22 leading clubs in Yorkshire and Lancashire to form the Northern Rugby Football Union, the competing unions laws of the game diverged almost immediately, the northern bodys code eventually became known as rugby league football. Englands seats on the IRFB were reduced from six to four in 1911, the three Southern Hemisphere unions were given a second seat each in 1958
17.
Americas Rugby Championship
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The inaugural Americas Rugby Championship was in 2009, where national, regional and development teams from North and South America competed for the title. The tournament will be the first competitive tournament to be held across the Sudamérica–RAN region since the PARA Pan American Championship that was ceased in 2003, the Argentina Jaguars defeated the BC Bears 35–11 in the final to capture the tournaments first title. In 2010, the tournament was cut from 6 to 4 teams, the USA Select XV and Argentina Jaguars were joined by the second team from Tonga, and a Canada Selects side made up of the top players in the 2010 CRC season. Each team played each other once in a format, gaining 4 points for a win. The tournament returned in 2012, haven not taken place in 2011 due to the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The tournament kept the format as 2010, however the national side of Uruguay joined the tournament replacing Tonga A, though in 2014. Argentina Jaguars went onto win every tournament between 2012 and 2014, the tournament was not held in 2015 because of the 2015 Rugby World Cup. In 2016, the tournament was relaunched and expanded to six teams with the inclusion of Brazil, unlike the previous single-site tournament featuring lesser sides, the new tournament will be held in February and March, concurrently with the European Six Nations Championship. Like the European championship, teams will play home and away, whereas players from European clubs will be available. Played annually, the format of the Championship is simple, each team every other team once in a round-robin format. For each win, a team picks up 4 points and 2 for a draw, the team with the most points at the end wins the title. Unlike previous ARC, overseas based players are available for selection, while Argentina will mainly only select provincial and domestic players that are not part of their Super Rugby Jaguares side
18.
United States national rugby sevens team
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The United States national rugby sevens team represents the United States in international rugby sevens competitions. The main competition they play every year is the World Rugby Sevens Series, the team also participates in major tournaments every four years, such as the Summer Olympics, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, and the Pan American Games. The national sevens team is organized by USA Rugby, and the team has been led by Head Coach Mike Friday since 2014, the Eagles have been a core team in the World Series and finished in the top twelve each season since 2008–09. The Eagles best seasons to date in the Sevens Series have been the 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons, the best result in a single Sevens tournament was winning the 2015 London Sevens. The Eagles best result in the USA Sevens has been to reach the quarterfinals, which they have done in 2009,2015, and 2016. Successes in quadrennial events include winning bronze medals at the 2011 and 2015 Pan American Games, the United States traditionally used the sevens team to prepare players for the XV-side. The national sevens team has drawn a number of crossover athletes from American football and track. The World Rugby Sevens Series, which is played every year from October through May, is the event in which the U. S. national sevens team plays. The US has competed in the World Series every year since the events inaugural 1999–2000 season. The U. S. team had initial success during the early years of the tournament led by Jovesa Naivalu. However, the U. S. team struggled in the five seasons from 2002-03 through 2006-07, the team was led by Chris Wyles who scored 26 tries on the season, and was the top try scorer at the 2008 USA Sevens with 8 tries. The 2008-09 season was the season for the US, finishing 11th on the season. The high point of the season was the home tournament. Nese Malifas 30 points in that tournament helped the US notch wins against Australia and Kenya to reach the semi-finals, the 2009-10 season saw continued improvement, with the team finishing the season in 10th place. Led by Matt Hawkins and Nese Malifa, the team finished ninth to win the Bowl in the 2010 USA Sevens, the US then advanced to their first ever Cup final at the 2009 Adelaide Sevens, scoring upset wins against England, Wales and Argentina. The team took a step back during the 2010-11 season with a 12th-place finish. A number of key players were unavailable for most or all of the season, including the seasons leading try scorer Nick Edwards. Additionally, a number of competing teams had moved to professional status, the 2011-12 season saw significant changes for the U. S
19.
United States women's national rugby union team
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The United States womens national rugby union team represents the United States in womens rugby union. The team finished sixth in the 2002 Womens Rugby World Cup, the Eagles have set the standard for international competition, leading an ensuing wave of womens rugby growth and game development worldwide. During the mid-1970s womens teams began to spring up on campuses across the United States. As those players graduated they went on to set up teams near cities, at that time there was only one division for all women’s rugby. In 1975 United States Rugby Football Union was formed and contained four territories, at this time the women had their own Board of Directors and followed in parallel USARFU with four territories. In 1978 the first Women’s National Championships was held, the Chicago Women’s Rugby Club in Chicago, Illinois hosted this event. The winner of championship was Portland, Maine. In 1985 the first semblance of a team was formed. An ‘invitation-only’ team was put together and made up of, arguably, the team was named WIVERN and toured throughout England and France. The team finished the tour undefeated, many of these players went on to be selected to the 1991 World Cup Team. In 1987 the USA Women’s National Team was officially born with their first match against the Canadian Women’s National Team, although the women were not permitted to wear the Eagle logo this match was sanctioned by Rugby Canada and USA Rugby. USA and Canada began holding a match, which became known as the CanAm series. For ten years the Women Eagles went undefeated in this test series, in 1990 the Women’s National Team, competing under the name ‘USA Presidents 15’, traveled to New Zealand to compete in the historic Women’s World Rugby Festival. The WNT posted a record of 3-1 with their only loss coming at the hands of New Zealand, in 1991 the first Women’s Rugby World Cup was held at Cardiff Arms Park in Cardiff, Wales. Coached by Beantown’s Kevin O’Brien, a Welshman himself, and Minnesota’s Chris Leach, defeating New Zealand in semi-final play the USA Women advanced to the finals where they defeated England. Also in 1991 the first woman was elected to serve on the USARFU Board of Directors, jamie Jordan was elected Treasurer for the BOD. In 1996 the first assembly of a National Women’s 7’s team was formed, Emil Signes held tryouts to pick a team to compete in the first Women’s International 7’s tournament to be held during the Hong Kong 7’s event. The team competed under the name ‘Atlantis’, the prestigious National 7’s program created by Emil, many of these players went on to compete for the USA Women’s 7’s Team in the Hong Kong 7’s Women’s Division
20.
Houston
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Houston is the most populous city in the state of Texas and the fourth-most populous city in the United States. With a census-estimated 2014 population of 2.239 million within an area of 667 square miles, it also is the largest city in the southern United States and the seat of Harris County. Located in Southeast Texas near the Gulf of Mexico, it is the city of Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land. Houston was founded on August 28,1836, near the banks of Buffalo Bayou and incorporated as a city on June 5,1837. The city was named after former General Sam Houston, who was president of the Republic of Texas and had commanded, the burgeoning port and railroad industry, combined with oil discovery in 1901, has induced continual surges in the citys population. Houstons economy has an industrial base in energy, manufacturing, aeronautics. Leading in health care sectors and building equipment, Houston has more Fortune 500 headquarters within its city limits than any city except for New York City. The Port of Houston ranks first in the United States in international waterborne tonnage handled, the city has a population from various ethnic and religious backgrounds and a large and growing international community. Houston is the most diverse city in Texas and has described as the most diverse in the United States. It is home to cultural institutions and exhibits, which attract more than 7 million visitors a year to the Museum District. Houston has a visual and performing arts scene in the Theater District. In August 1836, two real estate entrepreneurs from New York, Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen, purchased 6,642 acres of land along Buffalo Bayou with the intent of founding a city. The Allen brothers decided to name the city after Sam Houston, the general at the Battle of San Jacinto. The great majority of slaves in Texas came with their owners from the slave states. Sizable numbers, however, came through the slave trade. New Orleans was the center of trade in the Deep South. Thousands of enslaved African Americans lived near the city before the Civil War, many of them near the city worked on sugar and cotton plantations, while most of those in the city limits had domestic and artisan jobs. Houston was granted incorporation on June 5,1837, with James S. Holman becoming its first mayor, in the same year, Houston became the county seat of Harrisburg County and the temporary capital of the Republic of Texas
21.
Atlanta
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Atlanta is the capital of and the most populous city in the U. S. state of Georgia, with an estimated 2015 population of 463,878. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, home to 5,710,795 people, Atlanta is the county seat of Fulton County, and a small portion of the city extends eastward into DeKalb County. In 1837, Atlanta was founded at the intersection of two lines, and the city rose from the ashes of the American Civil War to become a national center of commerce. Atlantas economy is considered diverse, with dominant sectors that include logistics, professional and business services, media operations, Atlanta has topographic features that include rolling hills and dense tree coverage. Revitalization of Atlantas neighborhoods, initially spurred by the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, has intensified in the 21st century, altering the demographics, politics. Prior to the arrival of European settlers in north Georgia, Creek Indians inhabited the area, standing Peachtree, a Creek village located where Peachtree Creek flows into the Chattahoochee River, was the closest Indian settlement to what is now Atlanta. As part of the removal of Native Americans from northern Georgia from 1802 to 1825, the Creek ceded the area in 1821. In 1836, the Georgia General Assembly voted to build the Western, the initial route was to run southward from Chattanooga to a terminus east of the Chattahoochee River, which would then be linked to Savannah. After engineers surveyed various possible locations for the terminus, the zero milepost was driven into the ground in what is now Five Points. A year later, the area around the milepost had developed into a settlement, first known as Terminus, and later as Thrasherville after a merchant who built homes. By 1842, the town had six buildings and 30 residents and was renamed Marthasville to honor the Governors daughter, later, J. Edgar Thomson, Chief Engineer of the Georgia Railroad, suggested the town be renamed Atlantica-Pacifica, which was shortened to Atlanta. The residents approved, and the town was incorporated as Atlanta on December 29,1847, by 1860, Atlantas population had grown to 9,554. During the American Civil War, the nexus of multiple railroads in Atlanta made the city a hub for the distribution of military supplies, in 1864, the Union Army moved southward following the capture of Chattanooga and began its invasion of north Georgia. On the next day, Mayor James Calhoun surrendered Atlanta to the Union Army, on November 11,1864, Sherman prepared for the Union Armys March to the Sea by ordering Atlanta to be burned to the ground, sparing only the citys churches and hospitals. After the Civil War ended in 1865, Atlanta was gradually rebuilt, due to the citys superior rail transportation network, the state capital was moved from Milledgeville to Atlanta in 1868. In the 1880 Census, Atlanta surpassed Savannah as Georgias largest city, by 1885, the founding of the Georgia School of Technology and the citys black colleges had established Atlanta as a center for higher education. In 1895, Atlanta hosted the Cotton States and International Exposition, during the first decades of the 20th century, Atlanta experienced a period of unprecedented growth. In three decades time, Atlantas population tripled as the city expanded to include nearby streetcar suburbs
22.
Atlanta metropolitan area
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Its economic, cultural and demographic center is Atlanta, and it had a 2015 estimated population of 5.7 million people according to the U. S. Census Bureau. The metro area forms the core of a trading area. The Combined Statistical Area spans up to 39 counties in north Georgia and had an estimated 2015 population of 6.3 million people, Atlanta is considered an alpha world city. It is the third largest metropolitan region in the Census Bureaus Southeast region behind Greater Washington and South Florida. By U. S. Census Bureau standards, the population of the Atlanta region spreads across an area of 8,376 square miles – a land area comparable to that of Massachusetts. Because Georgia contains more counties than any state except Texas. As of the 2000 census, fewer than one in ten residents of the area lived inside Atlanta city limits. A2006 survey by the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce counted 140 cities, six cities – Johns Creek, Milton, Chattahoochee Hills, Dunwoody, Peachtree Corners, and Brookhaven – have incorporated since then, following the lead of Sandy Springs in 2005. The Atlanta metropolitan area was first defined in 1950 as Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Cobb, the CSA also abuts the Macon and Columbus MSAs. The region is one of the metropolises of the Southeastern United States, the above-listed counties are included in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Gainesville CSA. However, most other entities define a much smaller metropolitan area by including only the counties which have the densest suburban development. Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Cobb, and Clayton were the five original counties when the Atlanta metropolitan area was first defined in 1950, and continue to be the core of the metro area. These five counties along with five more are members of the Atlanta Regional Commission, the ten ARC counties and five more are part of the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District, created in 2001. The 14 counties listed above with under 60,000 residents are not included in any other metropolitan definition except the OMB/Census Bureaus CSA. Hall County was originally the Gainesville, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area, Cumberland Perimeter Center Hartsfield-Jackson area More than one half of metro Atlantas population is in unincorporated areas or areas considered a census-designated-place by the census bureau. Metro Atlanta includes the incorporated and unincorporated suburbs, exurbs. 420,003 Places with 75,000 to 99,999 inhabitants Sandy Springs pop,76,728 Places with 50,000 to 74,999 inhabitants Alpharetta pop. 51,271 Places with 25,000 to 49,999 inhabitants Dunwoody pop,25,636 Places with 24, 999- inhabitants The area sprawls across the low foothills of the Appalachian Mountains to the north and the Piedmont to the south
23.
Kennesaw, Georgia
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Kennesaw is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, United States, located in the greater Atlanta metropolitan area. It had a population of 29,783 according to the 2010 census, founded in 1887, Kennesaw has a past surrounded with railroad history. During the Civil War, Kennesaw was the ground for the Great Locomotive Chase on April 12,1862. In 2007, the city was selected by Family Circle magazine as one of the nations 10 best towns for families, in 2009 Newsmax magazine listed the city among the Top 25 Most Uniquely American Cities and Towns. The city is perhaps best known nationally for its mandatory gun-possession ordinance, as the Western and Atlantic Railroad was being built in the late 1830s, shanties arose to house the workers. These were near a big spring, a grade up from the Etowah River became known as the big grade to the shanties, then Big Shanty Grade, and finally Big Shanty. The name Kennesaw is derived from the Cherokee word gah-nee-sah, meaning cemetery or burial ground, camp MacDonald, a training camp, was located there from 1861-1863. During the Civil War, Big Shanty was the site of fighting in the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. Chalker purchased a 1. 25-acre tract of land adjacent to the Kennesaw Cemetery from J. W. Ellis in 1934, Chalker purchased another 1 acre adjacent to the first parcel in 1948, which was also to be used for a cemetery. The Chalker family managed these portions of the cemetery until they were sold to the City of Kennesaw in the mid 1950s, the earliest known burial is the infant Lucius B. Summers, who was interred in 1863, other grave markers date as far back as the 1860s to the 1890s. Civil War veterans are buried here, the cemetery is still in use. The Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History is located downtown, next to the Western and Atlantic Railroad tracks on Cherokee Street, the museum is the current preservation and display location for The General, the locomotive that played the key role in the Great Locomotive Chase. In March 2004, First Lady Laura Bush designated Kennesaw a Preserve America Community, Kennesaw is located in northwestern Cobb County, bordered by the city of Acworth to the northwest. Kennesaw Mountain is located southeast of the city limits in the battlefield park and its summit is the highest point in the Atlanta metro area, at an elevation of 1,808 feet above sea level. The city was renamed for the mountain, U. S. Route 41 and State Route 3 pass through the city as Cobb Parkway, leading southeast 7 miles to Marietta and northwest 17 miles to Cartersville. Interstate 75 passes just northeast of the city limits, with access from exits 269,271, via I-75, downtown Atlanta is 27 miles to the southeast. According to the United States Census Bureau, Kennesaw has an area of 9.5 square miles, of which 9.4 square miles is land and 0.12 square miles
24.
Rugby union at the 1920 Summer Olympics
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Rugby union at the 1920 Summer Olympics was played in Antwerp. Two nations entered the rugby event at the 1920 Summer Olympics — France. The French team were very much thought to be assured of the gold medal, however, the United States team caused a shock, defeating France in the only game eight points to nil. Rugby Commissioner and President of the California Rugby Union, Harry Maloney was Coach and Trainer James Fitzpatrick is missing in the IOC medal database, James Winston is listed in the IOC medal database but he did not participate. Bill Muldoon was also a member of the American team. Raymond Berrurier is listed in the IOC medal database but he did not participate, constant Lamaignière, Eugène Soulié, and Robert Thierry were squad members for the French team but they did not play. Morris Kirksey also won gold for the United States in the 4x100 metre relay at these games, results on sports-reference. com Rugby in the Olympics International Olympic Committee results database
25.
Rugby union at the 1924 Summer Olympics
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At the 1924 Summer Olympics held in Paris, United States beat the other two competitors in the rugby union tournament, winning the gold medal. In September 1923, the U. S. Olympic Committee once again agreed to send an American rugby team to the 1924 Paris Olympics to defend their title and we were told to go to Paris and take our beatings like gentlemen. The coach Charles Austin was relying on his teams size, speed, stamina, the USA Olympic rugby team arrived in Paris, via England on 27 April 1924, after a 6,000 mile journey by train, bus, ship, and ferry from Oakland, California. The young American athletes expected to be welcomed to France with kisses on both cheeks, they were unpleasantly surprised, the team was the target of hostility even before the players set foot on French soil. The American rugby players reputation only deteriorated, the Olympic games of 1924 opened on 4 May with a match between France and Romania. Playing its first fifteen, the French notched a 61 to 3 victory over the smaller eastern European team, after the match, another round of trouble started over the referee for the France - USA match. An earlier selection of British Admiral Percy Royds was deemed unacceptable by US team manager Sam Goodman, the dispute degraded into the French no longer providing any practice fields for the team, so the Americans found themselves a park. Fanning the flames, the French press published an article by a Paris City Counselor questioning the status of the American players. The Americans invited the Frenchman to come down to the pitch to discuss the matter, to make matters worse, an argument started over the French Olympic Committees ruling that the American side could not film their match against Romania that weekend. A French company had been awarded rights to filming the Olympics. A meeting on the 8th did not resolve the issue, so Sam Goodman told the French organizers that the US might pull out of the Games, adding fuel to the fire, the American players clothes were robbed during that days training session. Even though a French attendant had been posted, the team lost about $4,000 worth of cash and possessions. Cleaveland and his teammates were not very happy, and because of their treatment in the press, the American expatriate community in Paris was even staying well clear of them. The French press were now whipped up fierce anti-American sentiment in Paris, the next day, the French agreed to allow the Romanian match to be filmed for historical and educational purposes. A selection featuring only six of the US starting fifteen was announced for the match. On Sunday,11 May, the US pounded Romania 37 to 0 at Colombes Stadium, with Norman at flyhalf, Richard Hyland at center, and Jack Patrick at flanker, the US ran rampant through the Romanians, scoring nine tries. Fullback Charlie Doe had a good day kicking, scoring 13 points, with the impressive win, though, a difficult situation was brewing. Each time the Americans touched the ball, the French crowd of about 6000 booed and hissed, some of the French press even conceded that the fans had been unfair at the match
26.
France national rugby union team
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The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and they have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams. Eight former French players have been inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame, Rugby was introduced to France in 1872 by the British, and on New Years Day 1906 the national side played its first Test match – against New Zealand in Paris. France played sporadically against the Home Nations until they joined them to form a Five Nations tournament in 1910, France also competed in the rugby competitions at early Summer Olympics, winning the gold medal in 1900 and two silver medals in the 1920s. The national team came of age during the 1950s and 1960s and they won their first Grand Slam in 1968. Since the inaugural World Cup in 1987, France have qualified for the stage of every tournament. They have reached the three times, losing to the All Blacks in 1987 and 2011 and to Australia in 1999. France hosted the 2007 Rugby World Cup, where, as in 2003, France traditionally play in blue shirts with white shorts and red socks, and are commonly referred to as les tricolores or les bleus. The French emblem is a golden rooster imposed upon a red shield and their alternative strip is composed of a white shirt and navy blue shorts and socks. Rugby was introduced to France in 1872 by English merchants and students, on 26 February 1890, a French rugby team recruited from the Janson Desailly Lyceum defeated an international team at the Bois de Boulogne. Although France were represented at the 1900 Summer Olympics, their first official test match did not take place till New Years Day,1906 against the New Zealand All Blacks in Paris. France then played intermittently against the Home Nations until they joined them to form the Five Nations tournament in 1910, in 1913 France faced South Africas Springboks for the first time, losing 38–5. France also competed at the 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics, France were ejected from the Five Nations in 1932 after being accused of professionalism in the French leagues at a time when rugby union was strictly amateur. Forced to play against weaker opposition, France went on a winning streak, France was invited to rejoin the Five Nations in 1939 but did not compete until 1947 as international rugby was suspended during World War II. French rugby came of age during the 1950s and 1960s, they won their first Five Nations championship and their first championship was won in 1954 when they shared the title with England and Wales. France won their first outright Five Nations championship in 1959, they won with two wins, a draw and a defeat, France first toured South Africa winning the test series in 1958. The Springboks also visited Paris in 1961, the test was not completed due to fighting amongst the players. France also toured New Zealand and Australia in 1961 losing both tests against the All Blacks but defeating Australias Wallabies and they won their first Five Nations Grand Slam in 1968 by beating all four other competing teams, and won numerous titles in the following years
27.
Anaheim, California
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Anaheim is a city in Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a population of 336,265, making it the most populous city in Orange County, Anaheim remained largely a rural community until Disneyland opened in the city in 1955. This led to the construction of hotels and motels around the area. The city also developed into a center, producing electronics, aircraft parts. Anaheims city limits extend from Cypress in the west to the Riverside County line in the east and encompass a diverse collection of neighborhoods, Anaheim Hills is a master-planned community located in the citys eastern stretches that is home to many of the citys affluent. Downtown Anaheim has three historic districts, the largest of which is the Anaheim Colony. The Anaheim Resort, a district, includes Disneyland, Disney California Adventure. The Platinum Triangle, a redevelopment district surrounding Angel Stadium, is planned to be populated with mixed-use streets. Finally, Anaheim Canyon is a district north of California State Route 91. Anaheims name is a blend of Ana, after the nearby Santa Ana River, and heim, the city of Anaheim was founded in 1857 by 50 German-Americans who were residents of San Francisco and whose families had originated in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Franconia in Bavaria. For $750 a share, the formed the Anaheim Vineyard Company. Their new community was named Annaheim, meaning home by the Santa Anna River in German, the name later was altered to Anaheim. To the Spanish-speaking neighbors, the settlement was known as Campo Alemán, although grape and wine-making was their primary objective, the majority of the 50 settlers were mechanics, carpenters and craftsmen with no experience in wine-making. The community set aside 40 acres for a center and a school was the first building erected there. The first home was built in 1857, the Anaheim Gazette newspaper was established in 1870, for 25 years, the area was the largest wine producer in California. However, in 1884, a disease infected the grape vines, other crops – walnuts, lemons and oranges – soon filled the void. Fruits and vegetables had become viable cash crops when the Los Angeles – Orange County region was connected to the railroad network in 1887. The famous Polish actress Helena Modjeska settled in Anaheim with her husband and various friends, among them Henryk Sienkiewicz, Julian Sypniewski, while living in Anaheim, Helena Modjeska became good friends with Clementine Langenberger, the second wife of August Langenberger
28.
Towson University
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Towson University, often referred to as TU or simply Towson for short, is a public university located in Towson in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. It is a part of the University System of Maryland, Towson is one of the largest public universities in Maryland and still produces the most teachers of any university in the state. The U. S. News & World Report ranked Towson University 8th in the Public Universities-Master’s category for its 2010 Americas Best Colleges issue, forbes included Towson University in its 2009 list of the top 100 public colleges and universities in the United States. Kiplingers Personal Finance magazine named Towson University one of the top 100 best values in public colleges for the 2008–09 academic year, located then at Red Mans Hall on North Paca Street in Baltimore, the new teachers school originally enrolled eleven students and fostered three faculty members. McFadden Alexander Newell served as the schools first principal as well as the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, as time passed, the enrollment in the school grew exponentially. The landmark mansion, which later was known as the Union Club by 1863, the following year, the General Assembly appropriated money to construct an exclusive building to house the burgeoning school. In 1876, the Normal School moved its faculty and 206 students to this new facility located in West Baltimore facing Lafayette Square on Carrollton. The demand for qualified teachers became overwhelming by the turn of the century, the Maryland Department of Education reported an annual need for 350 new teachers, but the Maryland State Normal School was graduating fewer than 100. The facilities in West Baltimore were now inadequate to meet state demands, principal Sarah Richmond, one of the original eleven graduates, began a campaign to establish a campus where the school could function more appropriately. In 1910, the General Assembly formed a committee to oversee site selection, budget, John Charles Linthicum was appointed president of the committee, alongside State Superintendent Dr. M. Bates Stephens and Sarah Richmond. The committee surveyed locations at Roland Park, Lutherville-Timonium, Mount Washington, Pimlico, Glencoe, eventually, the committee settled on an 80-acre site in Towson and the General Assembly financed the $600,000 move in 1912. Construction began in 1913 on the Administration Building, now known as Stephens Hall, in September 1915, the new campus, comprising Stephens Hall, Newell Hall, and the power plant, began classes. The following year, the changed its name to Maryland State Teachers College at Towson. As the name implied, the single purpose was to train teachers. In 1946, however, the established a junior college to offer two years of college work on a transfer basis. This expansion laid the foundation of what was later to become the art, in 1958, the college offered its first graduate program leading to a Master of Education degree. In 1960, the college expanded the art and science programs into four-year courses, due to this change in focus, the name changed once more to Towson State College. Beginning in 1964, the enrollment rates began a dramatic increase as the baby boomer generation began applying to colleges
29.
Dublin
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Dublin is the capital and largest city of Ireland. Dublin is in the province of Leinster on Irelands east coast, the city has an urban area population of 1,345,402. The population of the Greater Dublin Area, as of 2016, was 1,904,806 people, founded as a Viking settlement, the Kingdom of Dublin became Irelands principal city following the Norman invasion. The city expanded rapidly from the 17th century and was briefly the second largest city in the British Empire before the Acts of Union in 1800, following the partition of Ireland in 1922, Dublin became the capital of the Irish Free State, later renamed Ireland. Dublin is administered by a City Council, the city is listed by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network as a global city, with a ranking of Alpha-, which places it amongst the top thirty cities in the world. It is a historical and contemporary centre for education, the arts, administration, economy, the name Dublin comes from the Irish word Dubhlinn, early Classical Irish Dubhlind/Duibhlind, dubh /d̪uβ/, alt. /d̪uw/, alt /d̪u, / meaning black, dark, and lind /lʲiɲ pool and this tidal pool was located where the River Poddle entered the Liffey, on the site of the castle gardens at the rear of Dublin Castle. In Modern Irish the name is Duibhlinn, and Irish rhymes from Dublin County show that in Dublin Leinster Irish it was pronounced Duílinn /d̪ˠi, other localities in Ireland also bear the name Duibhlinn, variously anglicized as Devlin, Divlin and Difflin. Historically, scribes using the Gaelic script wrote bh with a dot over the b and those without knowledge of Irish omitted the dot, spelling the name as Dublin. Variations on the name are found in traditionally Irish-speaking areas of Scotland, such as An Linne Dhubh. It is now thought that the Viking settlement was preceded by a Christian ecclesiastical settlement known as Duibhlinn, beginning in the 9th and 10th century, there were two settlements where the modern city stands. Baile Átha Cliath, meaning town of the ford, is the common name for the city in modern Irish. Áth Cliath is a name referring to a fording point of the River Liffey near Father Mathew Bridge. Baile Átha Cliath was an early Christian monastery, believed to have been in the area of Aungier Street, there are other towns of the same name, such as Àth Cliath in East Ayrshire, Scotland, which is Anglicised as Hurlford. Although the area of Dublin Bay has been inhabited by humans since prehistoric times and he called the settlement Eblana polis. It is now thought that the Viking settlement was preceded by a Christian ecclesiastical settlement known as Duibhlinn, beginning in the 9th and 10th century, there were two settlements where the modern city stands. The subsequent Scandinavian settlement centred on the River Poddle, a tributary of the Liffey in an area now known as Wood Quay, the Dubhlinn was a small lake used to moor ships, the Poddle connected the lake with the Liffey. This lake was covered during the early 18th century as the city grew, the Dubhlinn lay where the Castle Garden is now located, opposite the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin Castle
30.
Republic of Ireland
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Ireland, also known as the Republic of Ireland, is a sovereign state in north-western Europe occupying about five-sixths of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, which is located on the part of the island. The state shares its land border with Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom. It is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the Celtic Sea to the south, Saint Georges Channel to the south-east, and it is a unitary, parliamentary republic. The head of government is the Taoiseach, who is elected by the Dáil and appointed by the President, the state was created as the Irish Free State in 1922 as a result of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It was officially declared a republic in 1949, following the Republic of Ireland Act 1948, Ireland became a member of the United Nations in December 1955. It joined the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union, after joining the EEC, Ireland enacted a series of liberal economic policies that resulted in rapid economic growth. The country achieved considerable prosperity between the years of 1995 and 2007, which known as the Celtic Tiger period. This was halted by a financial crisis that began in 2008. However, as the Irish economy was the fastest growing in the EU in 2015, Ireland is again quickly ascending league tables comparing wealth and prosperity internationally. For example, in 2015, Ireland was ranked as the joint sixth most developed country in the world by the United Nations Human Development Index and it also performs well in several national performance metrics, including freedom of the press, economic freedom and civil liberties. Ireland is a member of the European Union and is a member of the Council of Europe. The 1922 state, comprising 26 of the 32 counties of Ireland, was styled, the Constitution of Ireland, adopted in 1937, provides that the name of the State is Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland. Section 2 of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 states, It is hereby declared that the description of the State shall be the Republic of Ireland. The 1948 Act does not name the state as Republic of Ireland, because to have done so would have put it in conflict with the Constitution. The government of the United Kingdom used the name Eire, and, from 1949, Republic of Ireland, for the state, as well as Ireland, Éire or the Republic of Ireland, the state is also referred to as the Republic, Southern Ireland or the South. In an Irish republican context it is referred to as the Free State or the 26 Counties. From the Act of Union on 1 January 1801, until 6 December 1922, during the Great Famine, from 1845 to 1849, the islands population of over 8 million fell by 30%
31.
Secondary education in the United States
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The United States historically had a demand for general skills rather than specific training/apprenticeships. It recommended twelve years of instruction, consisting of eight years of education followed by four years of high school. At the turn of the 20th Century, it was common for high schools to have entrance examinations which restricted entrance to fewer than 5 percent of the population in preparation for college, most were expected to be ready for a job or a family after junior high school. The first public schools started around the 1830s and 40s within the wealthier areas of similar income levels. There was a shift towards local decision making by school districts, the shift from theoretical to a more practical approach in curriculum also resulted in an increase of skilled blue-collar workers. The open enrollment nature and relatively relaxed standards, such as ease of repeating a grade, there was an increase in educational attainment, primarily from the grass-roots movement of building and staffing public high schools. In 1954 the Supreme Court case Brown v. By 1955, in 1965 the far-reaching Elementary and Secondary Education Act, passed as a part of President Lyndon B. Johnsons War on Poverty, provided funds for primary and secondary education while explicitly forbidding the establishment of a national curriculum and it emphasized equal access to education and established high standards and accountability. The bill also aimed to shorten the achievement gaps between students by providing every child with fair and equal opportunities to achieve an exceptional education, after 1980, the growth in educational attainment decreased, which caused the growth of the educated workforce to slow down. Pressure to allow people and organizations to create new Charter schools developed during the 1980s and were embraced by the American Federation of Teachers in 1988. These would be legally and financially autonomous public school free from state laws and district regulations. Minnesota was the first state to pass a school law in 1991. By 2009 charter schools were operating in 41 states and 59% of these had waiting lists, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 required all public schools receiving federal funding to administer a statewide standardized test annually to all students. Standards-based education has been embraced in most states which changed the measurement of success to academic achievement, by 2006, two-thirds of students lived in states with effective standards requiring passing tests to ensure that all graduates had achieved these standards. Great indirect authority is, however, exercised through federal funding of national programs, the U. S. government may also propose, but cannot enforce national goals, objectives and standards, which generally lie beyond its jurisdiction. Many high schools in the United States offer a choice of vocational or college prep curriculum, the level of specialization allowed varies depending on both the state and district the school is located in. Many states require that courses in the areas of English, science, social studies. The majority of high schools require four English credits to graduate, generally, three science courses are required
32.
Preteen
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Preadolescence, also known as pre-teen or tween, is a stage of human development following early childhood and preceding adolescence. It commonly ends with the beginning of puberty, but may also be defined as ending with the start of the teenage years, for example, dictionary definitions generally designate it as 10–13 years. Preadolescence can bring its own challenges and anxieties, being prepubescent is not the same thing as being preadolescent. Instead, prepubescent is a term for boys and girls who have not developed secondary sex characteristics, preadolescence may also be defined as the period from 9 to 14 years. The point at which a child becomes an adolescent is defined by the onset of puberty or by the beginning of the teenage stage, adolescence is also viewed as ending with the teenage stage. However, in individuals, puberty begins in the preadolescence years. Studies indicate that the onset of puberty has been one year earlier with each generation since the 1950s, one can also distinguish middle childhood and preadolescence – middle childhood from approximately 5–8 years, as opposed to the time children are generally considered to reach preadolescence. While known as preadolescent in psychology, the terms preteen, preteenager or tween are common in everyday use, a preteen or preteenager is a person 12 and under. Generally, the term is restricted to close to reaching age 12. Tween is an American neologism and marketing term for preteen, which is a blend of between and teen, people within this age range are variously described as tweens, preadolescents, tweenies, preteens, pubescents, junior highers or tweenagers. In this context, the word is either a shortened version of between or a portmanteau of teen and twenty, and in either case has no connection to teens, preteens or the American marketing niche. Preadolescent children in fact have a different view of the world from younger children in many significant ways, typically, theirs is a more realistic view of life than the intense, fantasy-oriented world of earliest childhood. Preadolescents have more mature, sensible, realistic thoughts and actions and they will often have developed a sense of intentionality. The wish and capacity to have an impact, and to act upon that with persistence and this can include more realistic job expectations. Preadolescents may well view human relationships differently, alongside that, they may begin to develop a sense of self-identity, and to have increased feelings of independence, may feel an individual, no longer just one of the family. A different view on morality can emerge, and the child will also show more cooperativeness. The ability to balance ones own needs with those of others in group activities, preadolescents may still suffer tantrums at the age of 13, sometimes leading to rash decisions regarding risky actions. Such decisions may in rare cases result in situations such as accidental death
33.
International Olympic Committee
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The International Olympic Committee is the supreme authority of the worldwide Olympic movement. It is an international, non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Lausanne and its mission is enshrined in the Olympic Charter, to support the development of competitive sport by ethical and environmentally sustainable means. The IOC was created by Pierre de Coubertin, on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president, today its membership consists of 100 active members,32 honorary members, and 1 honour member. The IOC is the authority of the worldwide modern Olympic movement. The IOC organises the modern Olympic Games and Youth Olympic Games, held in summer and winter, the first Summer Olympics organised by the IOC was held in Athens, Greece, in 1896, the first Winter Olympics was in Chamonix, France, in 1924. Until 1992, both Summer and Winter Olympics were held in the same year, the first Summer Youth Olympics were in Singapore in 2010 and the first Winter Youth Olympics were held in Innsbruck in 2012. In 2009, the UN General Assembly granted the IOC Permanent Observer status and this decision enables the IOC to be directly involved in the UN Agenda and to attend UN General Assembly meetings where it can take the floor. This has provided the possibility to promote sport at a new level, during each proclamation at the Olympics, announcers speak in different languages, French is always spoken first followed by an English translation and the dominant language of the host nation. The stated mission of the International Olympic Committee is to promote Olympic throughout the world and it is the IOC’s supreme organ and its decisions are final. Extraordinary Sessions may be convened by the President or upon the written request of at least one third of the members, among others, the powers of the Session are, To adopt or amend the Olympic Charter. To elect the members of the IOC, the Honorary President, to elect the President, the Vice-Presidents and all other members of the IOC Executive Board. To elect the host city of the Olympic Games, the Olympic Laurel is awarded to individuals for promoting education, culture, development, and peace through sport. For most of its existence, the IOC was controlled by members who were selected by other members, countries that had hosted the Games were allowed two members. When named, they did not become the representatives of their countries to the IOC. The membership of IOC members ceases in the circumstances, Resignation. Non re-election, any IOC member ceases to be a member without further formality if they are not re-elected, age limit, any IOC member ceases to be a member at the end of the calendar year during which they reach the age of 80. Failure to attend Sessions or take part in IOC work for two consecutive years. Transfer of domicile or of main center of interests to an other than the country which was theirs at the time of their election
34.
Stevens Stadium
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Stevens Stadium is a 7, 000-seat soccer stadium at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California. The stadium is the current home of the Santa Clara Broncos soccer teams and was the home of the now defunct Santa Clara football team as well as the Santa Clara baseball team. The baseball team moved to their new home at Stephen Schott Stadium in 2005, the stadium is the former home of the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer. The stadiums capacity was increased in the winter of 2007 from a capacity of 6,800 to 10,300, the stadium was named Buck Shaw Stadium before a renovation in 2015. Stevens Stadium opened its gates for the first time on September 22,1962 when it hosted a game between UC Davis and Santa Clara. The stadium was named for Lawrence T. Buck Shaw. The playing surface still retains his name to the present day being named the Buck Shaw Field and it was used for football games until 1992 and baseball games until 2005. In 2005, Stevens Stadium was converted from a facility to a soccer-only facility when the dugouts, baseball infield. Stevens Stadium is the current location of the commencement ceremonies for the university and it was first used for the undergraduate commencement on Saturday, June 9,2001. On October 26,2007, the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer announced that they play a majority of their home games during the 2008 season at the stadium. Upgrades such as seating and bathrooms were added to the stadium in order for it to comply with MLS standards. The capacity was increased from 6,800 seats to 10,300 seats, in addition the field was moved closer to the existing grandstand with a small section removed from section 107 to accommodate the shift. Additionally the Santa Clara practice field between the Leavey Center and Stevens was replaced with an Italgrass artificial turf surface, drainage improvements were also be made to the stadiums field in concert with the field crown being removed to produce a flat pitch. A new video scoreboard was added along with concession and merchandising stands. General facilities were modernized or improved including the addition of new lighting, a TV press box, new sound system. The new grandstand included all of the additions made to the stadium. About half of the new grandstand included tip up seating, overall the enhancements cost around $4 million. In their place a new smaller permanent west side grandstand, press box, capacity of the stadium was reduced back to 7,000 permanent seats as a result
35.
BBVA Compass Stadium
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The stadium is the result of combined commitments of $35.5 million from the city of Houston and $60 million from the Houston Dynamo. Harris County agreed to pay for half of the land in exchange for the ability to own the stadium after its completion date in May 2012. BBVA Compass, a subsidiary of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, is the sponsor company. The stadium is located on a tract of land bordered by Texas, Walker, Dowling and Hutchins in East Downtown, in June 2009, negotiations and financing began to fall into place with construction of the stadium originally beginning as early as Fall 2009. Banks and investors were in the books to finance the project, various locations the Dynamo were interested in building a stadium since their arrival were the former Astroworld site, Pearland, Sugar Land, and Northeast Houston near the Lake Houston area. S. Highway 59 and the Interstate 610 interchange, two days later, the Mayor of Bellaire, Cindy Seigel said that she would use whatever power she could to oppose the possible new location and is in communication with the developer to dissuade him. Additionally, this site does not have the infrastructure in place to serve it that exists at other athletic facilities downtown or at Reliant Park. S. On April 13,2010, Harris County commissioners voted unanimously to begin construction of the new Dynamo stadium east of downtown, oliver Luck, at the time President and General Manager of the Dynamo, announced the financing, architect, and project manager for the new stadium. He announced Populous had been chosen to design and build the stadium, on February 5,2011, the Houston Dynamo, led by Houston mayor Annise Parker and Harris County Judge Ed Emmitt, broke ground on the Houston Dynamo Stadium site. Houston Dynamo President Chris Canetti strongly expressed that the stadium will be ready by April 2012, construction on BBVA Compass Stadium led to the Houston Dynamos decision to play their first 7 games of the 2012 Major League Soccer season on the road. Their first match at the stadium was played on May 12,2012 when they defeated D. C, the lone goal came from Brad Davis from 35 yards out which beat D. C. goalkeeper Bill Hamid. The win happened in front of a capacity crowd of 22,039 and would mark the beginning of what would be an year for the Dynamo at home. BBVA Compass Stadium became home to several international, the first was between New Zealand and El Salvador for the BBVA Compass Content Series on May 23,2012. The match ended in a 2-2 draw, the first FIFA Qualifier match was played between Mexico and Guyana on October 12,2012. The United States womens national team made its debut at the stadium with a 4-0 win over China PR on December 12,2012, the United States mens national team played to a scoreless draw with Canada on January 29,2013, in its BBVA debut. The Dynamo broke the Major League Soccer record for longest unbeaten run at home on April 14,2013, BBVA Compass Stadium played host to the 2012 Italian Tour of the Americas which saw the USA Eagles play Italy to a 30-10 loss. BBVA Compass Stadium played host to the 2012–13 IRB Womens Sevens World Series in the USA leg of the series, however, the USA leg of the World Series was moved to the Atlanta suburb of Kennesaw, Georgia for the 2013–14 series, where it has remained ever since. BBVA Compass Stadium is home to Texas Southern University Football, during the 2013 season, the stadium also hosted the Houston Cougars for two games while TDECU Stadium was being built. C
36.
Soldier Field
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Soldier Field is an American football stadium located in the Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois. It opened in 1924 and is the field of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. With a football capacity of 61,500, it is the third-smallest stadium in the NFL, Soldier Field was designed in 1919 and opened on October 9,1924, as Municipal Grant Park Stadium. The name was changed to Soldier Field on November 11,1925 and its formal dedication as Soldier Field was on Saturday, November 27,1926, during the 29th annual playing of the Army–Navy Game. Its design is in the Neoclassical style, with Doric columns rising above the East and West entrances, the stadium cost $13 million to construct, a very large sum for a sporting venue at that time. In its earliest configuration, Soldier Field was capable of seating 74,280 spectators and was in the shape of a U. Additional seating could be added along the field, upper promenades and on the large, open field and terrace beyond the north endzone. Soldier Field was used as a site for many sporting events, the Chicago Cardinals used it as their home field for their final season in Chicago in 1959. A dozen years later in September 1971, the Chicago Bears moved in and they had intended to build a stadium in Arlington Heights. In 1978, the Bears and the Chicago Park District agreed to a 20-year lease, both parties pooled their resources for the renovation. The playing surface was AstroTurf from 1971 through 1987, replaced with grass in 1988. In 1989, Soldier Fields future was in jeopardy after a proposal was created for a McDome, which was intended to be a stadium for the Bears. Because of this, Bears president Michael McCaskey considered relocation as a factor for a new stadium. The Bears had also purchased options in Hoffman Estates and Aurora, in 1995, McCaskey announced that he and Northwest Indiana developers agreed to construction of an entertainment complex called Planet Park, which would also include a new stadium. However, the plan was rejected by the Lake County Council, beginning in 1978, the plank seating was replaced by individual seats with backs and armrests. In 1982, a new press box as well as 60 skyboxes were added to the stadium, in 1988,56 more skyboxes were added increasing capacity to 66,946. Capacity was slightly increased to 66,950 in 1992, by 1994, capacity was slightly reduced to 66,944. During the renovation, seating capacity was reduced to 55,701 by building a grandstand in the end of the U shape
