Rugby league

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 has been played in Catalonia

Catalonia

Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...

 since 2007. The governing body of the game is the Catalan Rugby League Association

Associació Catalana de Rugby Lliga

The Associació Catalana de Rugby Lliga is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Catalonia. The Association was formed in 2007 and since then has organized and governed the Catalan competitions...

.

History

Rugby league started in Catalonia in autumn 2007, with the advice of people from the French Catalan region, where this sport has been played since the 1930s. The number of clubs has been growing since 3 clubs participated in the first competition to reach 9 teams in the first Catalonia Championships in April 2009.

The Catalan representative side made their debut in January 2008, when they participated in the French Interleague Championship held near Perpignan, in France.

Governing body

The governing body for rugby league in Catalonia has been the Associació Catalana de Rugby Lliga

Associació Catalana de Rugby Lliga

The Associació Catalana de Rugby Lliga is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Catalonia. The Association was formed in 2007 and since then has organized and governed the Catalan competitions...

, being an unranked member of the Rugby League European Federation

Rugby League European Federation

The Rugby League European Federation is the umbrella body for nations playing the sport of rugby league football across Europe and the Northern Hemisphere. It supports the Rugby League International Federation . The RLEF "oversees and co-ordinates the development of the sport in all its member...

 with Official observer status since 2008..

Competitions

The first catalan competition, the Catalonia Cup, took place in April of 2008 with 3 teams: FC Barcelona, Aligots de Girona and Nord-Català. The winners were FC Barcelona..

In February 2009 the first Catalan university rugby league championship took place, with seven universities teams participating : Perpinyà, Ramon Llull, Girona, Autònoma de Barcelona, Vic, Politècnica de Catalunya and Pompeu Fabra. Universitat de Perpinyà were the winners.

In Spring 2009 was played the first Catalan Rugby League Championship

Catalan Rugby League Championship

The Catalan Rugby League Championship is the rugby league competition for clubs in Catalonia, promoted by the Catalan Rugby League Association and played since 2009.-Group 1:-Group 2:-3rd and 4th places:-Final:-Group 1:-Group 2:...

, with nine teams in competition: Barcelona Universitari Club, Club de Rugby Sant Cugat, CE INEF Lleida, GEIEG, Club Natació Poble Nou - Enginyers, Club de Rugby Tarragona, Garrotxa Rugbi Club, Club Atlètic Vic - Crancs and Club Rugby Valls. Barcelona Universitari Club were the champions.

The National Team

The Catalonia national rugby league team played their first full international losing to Morocco

Morocco national rugby league team

-Results:* Lebanon def. Morocco 72-4 * Morocco def. Belgium 46-12 * Morocco def. Catalonia 29-6 * Morocco def. Italy 32-10 * Morocco def. Catalonia 62-12...

 in a game played prior to the Catalans Dragons

Catalans Dragons

The Catalans Dragons are a French professional rugby league club based in Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales. They currently play in the Super League, and are the only team in the competition from outside of the United Kingdom...

 vs Warrington Wolves

Warrington Wolves

Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league football club based in Warrington, England that competes in Super League. They play at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2003....

 Super League

Super League

Super League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition in Europe. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League. The League features fourteen teams: thirteen from England and one from...

, on June 21, 2008..

In June 2009, Catalonia beat the Czech Republic

Czech Republic national rugby league team

-National team:The following is a summary of tournaments and results for the Czech Republic National Rugby League Team.-2006:The year 2006 saw the inaugural entrance of the Czech Rugby League team. Playing two games against the Dutch team Netherlands Tasman . This was a close and competitive match...

  in a match played prior to the Catalans Dragons

Catalans Dragons

The Catalans Dragons are a French professional rugby league club based in Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales. They currently play in the Super League, and are the only team in the competition from outside of the United Kingdom...

 vs Warrington Wolves

Warrington Wolves

Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league football club based in Warrington, England that competes in Super League. They play at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2003....

 Super League

Super League

Super League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition in Europe. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League. The League features fourteen teams: thirteen from England and one from...

 game, this time played in Barcelona

Barcelona

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

. This match was an international warm-up ahead of the Euro Med Challenge

RLEF Euro Med Challenge

-Standings:-2009:In 2009, the RLEF announced that Russia, Lebanon and Serbia would be promoted to a revamped European Nations Cup. The Euro-Med Challenge was therefore contested by three new teams in 2009 - Belgium and Catalonia, who made their competitive debuts, and Morocco...

 contested by Catalonia, Morocco

Morocco national rugby league team

-Results:* Lebanon def. Morocco 72-4 * Morocco def. Belgium 46-12 * Morocco def. Catalonia 29-6 * Morocco def. Italy 32-10 * Morocco def. Catalonia 62-12...

 and Belgium

Belgium national rugby league team

The Belgium national rugby league team represents Belgium in the sport of rugby league football.-History:The success of the 2008 Rugby League World Cup resulted in a popularity surge for the sport around the world. As a result, a number of new nations took up the sport. Belgium followed this...

. They lost 6-29 at home to Morocco and 28-22 at Belgium .

External links

• Catalan Association Rugby League