American National Rugby League
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| American National Rugby League | |
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| Sport | Rugby League |
| Founded | 1998 |
| No. of teams | 10 |
| Country |  United States |
| Current champions | Connecticut Wildcats |
The American National Rugby League (sometimes referred to as the AMNRL) is the major rugby league tournament for semi-professional clubs in the United States; for the 2007 season, there will be ten teams, predominantly based on the north-east coast competing annually in this competition.
It was established in 1998 with only four teams based in the north-eastern states but has since grown to include teams going down the east coast of the United States where today the league has a total of ten teams that compete annually.
Also the United States national rugby league team (with the exception of limited foreign players) is largely made up of players whom currently play in the American National Rugby League.
Contents |
[edit] Teams
| AMNRL Teams | ||||
| Team | Stadium | City/Area | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aston DSC Bulls | Delaware County, Pennsylvania | |||
| Connecticut Wildcats | Andrews Field | Norwalk, Connecticut | ||
| Fairfax Eagles | Eagles Field at J.E.B Stuart High School | Falls Church, Virginia | ||
| Jacksonville Axemen | UNF Stadium Field | Jacksonville, Florida | ||
| New Haven Warriors | Edgewood Park | New Haven, Connecticut | ||
| New Jersey Sharks | Jack Pearson Stadium | Levittown, Pennsylvania | ||
| New York Knights | Hudson River Park | New York City, New York | ||
| Northern Raiders | Andrews Field | Essex County, New York | ||
| Philadelphia Fight | Torresdale Boys Club Field | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | ||
| Washington D.C. Slayers | Raoul Wallenberg Park | Washington, D.C. | ||
[edit] Latest News
- The 2007 schedule is posted here
- The Philadelphia Fight and Delaware Valley Mantarays have merged to form an new team still called the Philadelphia Fight here
- The Glen Mills Bulls have moved and changed their name to the Aston Delco Sports Club Bulls here
- The Fairfax Eagles will join the AMNRL for the 2007 season.
- The AMNRL has changed from a two conference format to a total league format. here
[edit] History
[edit] Origins
The first signs of domestic rugby league within the United States came about during 1939 when the Californian Rugby Football Union wrote a letter to the Rugby Football League based in England requesting a move away from Union and instead decided to affiliate itself with League. In late-1939, the Rugby Football League began making plans to send a delegate to California to finalise the plans but with the outbreak of the Second World War were unable to do so.
Rugby league then lay somewhat dormant in the decades after the war and although a hastily put together international side toured both Australia, New Zealand and France in the early 1950s this did not change anything at all back in the United States.
Things slowly began to change in North America during the late-1970s and early-1980s when several small amateur domestic competitions began to appear around both the United States and Canada. Originally these competitions were largely made up of ex-pats from the United Kingdom and Oceania but slowly domestic players began to appear both from other sports and rugby union.
[edit] Establishment
| Season | Winner | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Connecticut Wildcats | |||
| 2005 | Glen Mills Bulls | |||
| 2004 | Glen Mills Bulls | |||
| 2003 | Connecticut Wildcats | |||
| 2002 | New York Knights | |||
| 2001 | Glen Mills Bulls | |||
| 2000 | Glen Mills Bulls | |||
| 1999 | Glen Mills Bulls | |||
| 1998 | Glen Mills Bulls | |||
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The league was originally established for the 1998 inaugural season by several individuals in the north-eastern states whom wanted to join together the amateur rugby league competitions that existed as park leagues in the United States.
Since it's formation where only four clubs existed and competed in the American National Rugby League, participation has steadily grown and this has allowed for continual expansion seen between 2000 and 2003 where another four teams were added to the AMNRL. At the beginning of the 2006 season another three teams were added to the league being the Boston Braves, New Haven Warriors and the Jacksonville Axemen. The Braves only played one season and did not return in 2007, replaced by the Fairfax Eagles.
[edit] Expansion
Although the 'heartland' of rugby league is the north east coast, the AMNRL is quickly expanding to other areas of the eastern coast, as well as this, efforts are being made to set up a west coast competition or to further introduce west coast teams.
In 2006, a new team joined the AMNRL from Boston, which played an exhibition match in 2005. Teams from New Haven (Connecticut) and Jacksonville (Florida) also joined the 2006 competition. A Chicago based team is also going through various stages to be included in the AMNRL in the future.
A Florida league is currently going through various stages of development and will be seeking to enter a representative team from that league into the AMNRL in the near future. Florida has hosted rugby league games in the past, the state was the host to 1999 North Pacific Qualification Tournament, where the USA beat both Japan and Canada to meet Lebanon for the right to play in the 2000 Rugby League World Cup. In 2001, Florida was also host to the Sunshine State Challenge, where the United States competed against the Huddersfield Giants, Halifax and the Leeds Rhinos, the miniature tournament drew a crowd of 6,700.
In 2005, an exhibition match was played on the west coast of the United States, in Phoenix, Arizona, to help promote rugby league outside the heartland and there has been talk of further expanding the conferences to the west to include teams or representative teams from the West Coast Rugby League[1].
[edit] Commissioners and presidents
- David Nui (1998 - 2007)
[edit] Statistics and awards
[edit] League records
Largest victory Jacksonville Axemen 90 - 8 Philidelphia Fight (2006)
[edit] Most Valuable Player
At the conclusion of each season the title of Most Valuable Player is awarded to the individual whom accumalates the most points via a voting system that is undertaken after every game. Each official at the conclusion of a regular season fixture awards either three, two and one points for the most deserving players on game day; these points are then added up to determine the MVP. Performance is not only measured by individual feats but also the influence that player has had on the performance of their respective team.
| Year | Player | Club |
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| 2006 | Jason Gargaram | Glen Mills Bulls |
| 2005 | Andrew Webster / Erik Hollingsworth | Connecticut Wildcats / Glen Mills Bulls |
| 2004 | Marcus Vassilakopoulos | Glen Mills Bulls |
| 2003 | Danny Bull | Connecticut Wildcats |
| 2002 | Shayne Mains | Glen Mills Bulls |
| 2001 | Dave DiValerio | Delaware Valley Mantarays |
| 2000 | Ed Woodbridge | Glen Mills Bulls |
| 1999 | Shayne Mains | Glen Mills Bulls |
| 1998 | Bill Hansbury | Glen Mills Bulls |
Every season to date has seen an individual awarded the MVP excluding the 2005 season where both Andrew Webster and Erik Hollingsworth were awarded the Most Valuable player after they finished on equal points.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
| United States Rugby League - American National Rugby League |
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Aston DSC Bulls| Connecticut Wildcats | Fairfax Eagles| Jacksonville Axemen| New Haven Warriors| New Jersey Sharks | New York Knights | Northern Raiders | Philadelphia Fight | Washington D.C. Slayers |
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Competitions |
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National side |
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