Vrchlabi Mad Squirrels will debut in the CZRLA Superleague Championship in 2011.
Vrchlabi is a relatively small town in the Czech mountains noted more for skiing and mountaineering than Rugby League, but that could all change in 2011 when the Mad Squirrels debut in the Czech Rugby League Championship.
The majority of the Vrchlabi players only experienced their 1st legitimate RL match in 2010 when they made up the majority of the Czech Development team which put up a strong performance against an experienced Folly Lane under 18 team who toured the Czech Republic in October, before then going on to defeat a Pardubice Jets invitational team in front a large home crowd in a post CZRLA Championship season friendly match.
CZRLA Treasurer, Iain Sellers, opined that: “It may seem a strange thing to say about a team playing in their 1st official season of games, but Vrchlabi must be just about the favourites to win the Czech Championship in 2011. They really do have an incredibly close-knit group of lads who have grown up together, have embraced Rugby League, and are now dedicated to training hard and making their town proud. I think other teams will find it really hard to get over the top of them – especially at home - just as Pardubice found out when they travelled their last year to play a friendly match ”
Club founder and Captain-coach, David Lahr, who may well miss all of the season after undergoing a shoulder operation this week, was confident his team would do well, citing particularly the difficult conditions that the Mad Squirrels train in, and their dedication to being tough and resilient. “We have trained very hard for a year now, and so it is time for us to play this great sport of RL very hard and to win against all other teams.”