Vereya Bears are a 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...

 team from Vereya

Vereya

Vereya is a town in Naro-Fominsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Protva River southwest of Moscow. Population: 6,500 ....

, Moscow Oblast

Moscow Oblast

Moscow Oblast , or Podmoskovye , is a federal subject of Russia . Its area, at , is relatively small compared to other federal subjects, but it is one of the most densely populated regions in the country and, with the 2010 population of 7,092,941, is the second most populous federal subject...

. The club was first formed in 1995 and now play in the Russian Championship. Home matches are played at the Vereya Stadium.

Formation

Following the arrival of rugby league in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

 in 1991, the sport began to grow outwards. Vereya were established in 1995 as part of this expansion, but did not register until 1998. They adopted the name "Bears".

Russian Championship

The club debuted in Russian Championship XII and finished fourth. Since then they have hovered around that place - in 2003 they finished fifth, 2004 they finished fourth again and in 2005 and 2006 they finished third. The Bears have never been able to break up the stronger Moscow clubs though until Russian Championship XVII

Russian Championship XVII

Russian Championship XVII is the seventeenth season of the Russian Championship league, the major rugby league tournament for semi-professional clubs in Russia, taking place in 2007. Eight teams from across Russia took part in the competition...

 when they finished second. But in the play-offs they were not able to capture first spot as they were heavily defeated in Moscow away from home and lost their home leg too.

Challenge Cup

After their second placed finish in Russian Championship XVII the Bears were entered into the 2008 Challenge Cup

Challenge Cup

The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....

. They were entered into the Second Round of the competition and flew over to England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 to face amateur club Leigh Miners Rangers. They were defeated 64-12 and so were knocked out of the competition.

Staff

• Edgard Tatouryan, President & Head Coach
• Sergey Kashutin, Manager
• Victor V. Sapozhnikov, International & Public Relations
• Aleksey Schegelskiy, Administrator
• Sergey Khaletskiy, Doctor
• Sergey Kravets, Photographer

Junior Development

There are over 200 children in various Vereya Bears youth teams, most of whom are from the Naro-Fominsk

Naro-Fominsk

Naro-Fominsk is a town and the administrative center of Naro-Fominsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, situated southwest from Moscow, on the Nara River. The Moscow – Kiev railway passes through the town. Population: -History:...

 and Ruza

Ruza

Ruza is a town and the administrative center of Ruzsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Ruza River west of Moscow. Population:...

regions.