The tournament was named after Mark Bingham , a former University of California , Berkeley rugby star who had played in the May 2001 tournament for San Francisco Fog RFC and cofounded the Gotham Knights RFC . Bingham died in the September 11 , 2001 attacks on board United Airlines Flight 93 . According to Jon Barrett of '' The Advocate '' , he is generally accepted to be one of a group of passengers who fought with the hijackers aboard the flight , which eventually led to the hijackers crashing the plane into a vacant field in Pennsylvania instead of targets in Washington , D.C. . At the time of his death , there were around eight gay-inclusive rugby clubs worldwide , and he was helping to create others
United Airlines Flight 93
United Airlines Flight 93
Mark Kendall Bingham Memorial Tournament