Anyone got any news on the Americas competition

[Jethro]

Lost complete track on this one, but it was meant to promote Rugby in South and North America in the same way as the Pacific Cup has been a raging success in this region. Have you to see an actual Americas result posted anywhere :huh:

 

[Melhor Time]

Planned to take place in Canada to replace the North America 4. It starts soon, September 7th to be exact. There will be four provincial Canadian teamss, USA 'A' and the Argentina Jaguars.

 

[O'Rothlain]

Should be riviting... *crickets* ...ehm, I mean it's a competition at least.

 

[up'n'under]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americas_Rugby_Championship

 

[frntline]

yeah there really hasnt been any updates since it popped up on the net...

 

[Bowerman]

whoa...I haven't heard a SINGLE thing about this =/

Not advertised at all here, and there are even games being played in my Province...this just goes to prove how much of a baby/fledgling Rugby is compared to our other sports.

 

[Prestwick]

Oh god. You mean they dumped NA4?!

So now they have another international competition but no decent pro club/franchise operation?!

EDIT: Just looked at the competition and its 4 Canadian franchises, Argentina A and "United States Select" based in...Miami? :huh:

This is a total fiasco. They've basically dumped any attempt at forging a good set of North American franchises in place of an incredibly unbalanced competition. This sucks.

 

[O'Rothlain]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Prestwick @ Sep 2 2009, 08:27 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Oh god. You mean they dumped NA4?!

So now they have another international competition but no decent pro club/franchise operation?!

EDIT: Just looked at the competition and its 4 Canadian franchises, Argentina A and "United States Select" based in...Miami? :huh:

This is a total fiasco. They've basically dumped any attempt at forging a good set of North American franchises in place of an incredibly unbalanced competition. This sucks.[/b]

We have a bit of the head-up-our-arses syndrome here. All they do is pump money into the National Team and leave the kiddos without. They need to reverse that process and get children playing, so that by the time those kids are of age the National Team will be full of guys who've played the sport for 15 years, not 5.

 

[Prestwick]

Well, look on the bright side, Nate! The kids will be able to go see their heroes play when the Churchill Cup comes to North America...

 

[monkeypigeon]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Prestwick @ Sep 2 2009, 02:40 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Well, look on the bright side, Nate! The kids will be able to go see their heroes play when the Churchill Cup comes to North America...

[/b]

Yeah, I noticed that too and the internet shows no evidence at all of it going to Georgia next year.

 

[bgrugbyfan]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (O'Rothlain @ Sep 2 2009, 09:31 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Prestwick @ Sep 2 2009, 08:27 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oh god. You mean they dumped NA4?!

So now they have another international competition but no decent pro club/franchise operation?!

EDIT: Just looked at the competition and its 4 Canadian franchises, Argentina A and "United States Select" based in...Miami? :huh:

This is a total fiasco. They've basically dumped any attempt at forging a good set of North American franchises in place of an incredibly unbalanced competition. This sucks.[/b]

We have a bit of the head-up-our-arses syndrome here. All they do is pump money into the National Team and leave the kiddos without. They need to reverse that process and get children playing, so that by the time those kids are of age the National Team will be full of guys who've played the sport for 15 years, not 5.
[/b][/quote]

Spot on. The sport is primarily found at university-level in NA. That has to change if they have any hope of being a truly competitive team.

 

[Bowerman]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (bgrugbyfan @ Sep 2 2009, 08:42 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Spot on. The sport is primarily found at university-level in NA. That has to change if they have any hope of being a truly competitive team.[/b]

No, not really. It's found mostly at High School level. I didn't know about rugby till 9th grade (first year of high school), when my PE teacher suggested i join the team. And it wasn't until my last year of high school at the rugby provincials finals that I found out we have programs for little kids (touch rugby - they just so happened to have a game going while the finals were happening) It's definately grown over the years, but you'd never see a rugby scholarship just yet.
With that said, Most people who can play rugby, either play football, basketball, hockey, or baseball (even soccer is a million times more popular).

In Canada, if i were to shout "RUGBY!" in a crowded mall, I'd safely bet that 50% of the people wouldn't know what it is/barely know what it is.
College/High School sports aren't shown on TV much here, so that level of rugby has no show. And even our "Team Canada" isn't shown on TV when/if they play, and no canadian club rugby is on tv either. Even in america, with their huge dedication to their high school and college sports...you'd never find rugby on tv.

I don't know what it will take to bring rugby up in North America...but some half assed low competition rugby matches aren't going to cut it.

 

[up'n'under]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Prestwick @ Sep 2 2009, 09:40 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Well, look on the bright side, Nate! The kids will be able to go see their heroes play when the Churchill Cup comes to North America...

[/b]

When they announced it was going to be consolidated to Denver they said it was a multi-year deal. http://www.webcitation.org/5hgJNKk8d
However USA rugby has made a habit of not having their house in order, so who knows?

 

[Melhor Time]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Prestwick @ Sep 2 2009, 10:27 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Oh god. You mean they dumped NA4?!

So now they have another international competition but no decent pro club/franchise operation?!

EDIT: Just looked at the competition and its 4 Canadian franchises, Argentina A and "United States Select" based in...Miami? :huh:

This is a total fiasco. They've basically dumped any attempt at forging a good set of North American franchises in place of an incredibly unbalanced competition. This sucks.[/b]

No, actually, the new competition will be better for.

1. They have gone from 2 Canadian teams to four and have done so in a way that makes more logistical sense. It will be far easier in preparing and indenfiying talent. Now Canada will have 4 teams perfectly spread across the country, much better than 2. This gives Ontario a side, the Atlantic a side, BC a side and the Praire the other side. Fantastic and representaitve of the strenghts of Canadian rugby.

2. Canada has fewer professional players than the USA does. The Canadian national side is far more local based than the USA side is. This competition, acknowledges this. The USA get one side just liek Argentina.

3. The USA are involved in event stage of the IRB World Sevens, Canada aren't. The new Americas comp acknowledges this too.

4. The competition is structures to prepare Canada for the November tests against Japan. It is similarly going to prepare the USA for the World Cup qualifyers in November vs Uruguay.

5. The competition is set up with the goal of expanding to include Uruguay and Chile and in time Mexico and Brazil. This is, clearly, ideal. It would be an all encompassing regional event. Utterly perfect.