The Czech Rugby League Association has hailed 2011 as “a solid year of development”. On the international stage, the Czech Republic won its first ever rugby league silverware with an emphatic 38-16 away victory over Hungary XIII to secure the 2011 Euro Bowl.
The greatest progress, however, was on the domestic front, with four teams competing in an extended domestic competition played from April to November, with a summer hiatus period in which the annual State of Origin match and the Euro Bowl were played. The Pardubice Jets won the Minor Premiership - ahead of Lokomotiva Beroun, Vrchlabi Mad Squirrels & Prague Vikings – before also going on to win the first ever CZRLA Grand Final against Beroun, the 2010 Czech Champions, 42-18.
Pardubice‘s season was also enhanced by hosting the inaugural CZRLA International Rugby League 9s Tournament, which was won in thrilling style by the impressive Lebanese American University (LAU), who defeated a Belgrade select team in the final. Pardubice will again host the international 9s over the Easter weekend in 2012.
The CZRLA, which became a Member of the RLEF in October, is seeking to expand in 2012. A statement read: ‘‘The domestic season will see rugby league develop further in the Czech Republic when a 2nd division competition will be launched. It is envisaged that the 2012 CZRLA 1st Division will contain the same 4 clubs who made up the 2011 competition, and the 2nd Division will be made up of 4 expansion clubs from different towns around the country. The Chrudim Angels, who made their on-field rugby league debut in 2011, is almost certain to be one of those clubs, with Hradec Kralove, who have been training under club founder Libor Hanzlicek and Gerard Keenan over the winter, another likely participant. The clubs who will také part in the 2012 CZRLA 2nd Division competition will be selected from the 8 applicants currently being scrutinsed by the CZRLA Board, with the final decision on the make-up of the 2012 season to be made after the CZRLA AGM in January, 2012.“
In positive junior developments, 2011 saw the establishment of the first ever primary school rugby league training programs in Czech towns, around the cities of Pardubice, Brno and Prague, and an inaugural tag rugby league competition, involving junior teams from Opatovice, Horni Jeleni and Pardubice. 2012 will see this extended into an historic junior Czech domestic rugby league championship, with an under-18 team also scheduled to travel to Serbia to play in a European challenge competition. Significantly, the Pardubice Jets Club were successful not only in securing three corporate sponsorship deals, but also the first ever state-funded finances to a Czech rugby league club, when the Pardubice Regional Government recognised their input into both the local community and its economy.
Other clubs too, made inroads into the world of corporate sponsorship with Vrchlabi, in particular, securing multiple sponsorhip deals from local businesses; Beroun - formerly the ‘Black Panthers‘ - forging a deal with powerful local soccer club, Lokomotiva, and re-branding themselves in exchange for access to high-quality local training and playing facilities; and Prague – who also re-branded themselves to the ‘Vikings‘ - launching a partnership with the European Superleague’s Leeds Rhinos that will be beneficial for both clubs in developing the international prominence and appeal of rugby league.
The CZRLA continued: ‘‘The sport is making steady, sustainable steps in establishing itself within the Czech sporting panorama. Czech rugby league runs a full season of fixtures with clubs made up almost overwhelmingly of players from their local communites who have adopted Rugby League as their sport. In 2011 there were 117 senior rugby league players registered in the Czech Republic, with more than 90% of those Czech nationals & only 3 registered with any rugby union club. It is expected that with the introducation of the 2nd division in 2011, this number will be doubled.“