Rugby Super League (US)

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Rugby Super League (US)
Sport	Rugby union
Founded	1996
No. of teams	18
Country	United States
Current champions	Old Mission Beach

The Rugby Super League, usually referred to as simply the Super League and for sponsorship reasons the Michelob Super League, is a national rugby union competition contested by eighteen clubs in the United States. The competition is sanctioned by USA Rugby, the sport's national governing body, and is the "premier level" of rugby in the country. ^[1]

The competition was created in 1996 by the major governing bodies in the USA, in order to create a competitive national competition. The competition has since been contested annually. Today, the teams are divided into divisions, Eastern and Western, and 18 clubs compete in the competition (as of the 2007 season).

Contents 1 History 2 Current clubs (2006–07) 2.1 Eastern Conference 2.2 Western Conference 3 Results (1997-2006) 4 See also 5 References 6 External link

[edit] History

The Rugby Super League was created in 1996 by the 14 major governing bodies of the sport in the United States. It was intended to create a competitive and national competition. It was created at a time when there was a need for expansion of the code in the country. 1997 was subsequently the inugural season of the competition. There were 14 teams competing, which were divided into two seven-team divisions, the Western-Pacific Conference and the Midwestern-East Conference.

The original competiting sides in the 1997 season were; Belmont Shore RFC, the Chicago Lions, the Dallas Harlequins, the Denver Barbarians, the Gentlemen of Aspen, the Kansas City Blues, Life, Old Blue, Old Puget Sound Beach RFC, Old Mission Beach Athletic Club RFC, the Potomac Athletic Club RFC, San Francisco Golden Gate RFC and Washington RFC. Aspen won the first championship, defeating Old Blue 29 points to nine in the final which was played in New York.

The following season, two more sides gained entry into the competition, being, Boston RFC and the Philadelphia Whitemarsh RFC. Both sides joined the eastern conference, which saw the Harlequins move to the Western conference. This expansion saw two fifteen-side conferences. In 2001 the competition became recognized as the premier club rugby union competition in the United States - becoming separated from USA Rugby Division 1. The following season, the league expanded again, with the inclusion of New York Athletic Club, who gained entry through means of promotion and the Olympic Club, who formed a merger with the Old Blues.

The 2002 season saw major changes to the competition, with the "east and west divisions" format being dissolved to form a national competition. Life also left the competition that season. However, the format reverted back to the division-associated fixtures in 2005. Super League celebrated a decade of competition in 2006, with OMBAC defeating Belmont Shore 36 to 33 in the final which was held in Santa Clara, California. It was announced after the 2006 season that the Rugby Super League would be expanding from 15 teams to 18 for the 2007 season. Santa Monica Rugby accepted an invitation to join Super League, as did the Boston Irish Wolfhounds, who also finished runner-up in both Divisions I and III in 2006.^[2]

[edit] Current clubs (2006–07)

[edit] Eastern Conference

Team	City/Area	Stadium/Ground	Established
Boston RFC	Boston, Massachusetts	Franklin Park	1961
Boston Irish Wolfhounds	Boston, Massachusetts	Irish Cultural Center	1989
Charlotte	Charlotte, North Carolina	Skillbeck Athletic Ground	1971
Chicago Lions	Chicago, Illinois	Northeastern Illinois University	1964
New York Athletic Club	New York, New York	Traverlers Island	1973
Old Blue	New York, New York	Pier 40	1964
Philadelphia Whitemarsh	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Fairmount Park	1985
Potomac Athletic Club	Washington, DC	Wallenburg Field	1988
Washington	Washington, DC	Hyde High School Rugby Field	1963

[edit] Western Conference

Team	City/Area	Stadium/Ground	Established
Belmont Shore	Long Beach, California	Cal State Long Beach	1974
Dallas Harlequins	Dallas, Texas	Glencoe Park	1971
Denver Barbarians	Denver, Colorado	Observatory Park	1967
Old Mission Beach Athletic Club	San Diego, California	The Little Q Rugby Field	1966
Old Puget Sound Beach	Seattle, Washington	Pat Ryan Memorial Field	1971
Santa Monica Rugby Club	Santa Monica, California	Mark Twain Jr. High	1972
St. Louis Bombers	St. Louis, Missouri	SportPort, Maryland Heights	1962
San Francisco Golden Gate	San Francisco, California	Boxer Stadium	2001

[edit] Results (1997-2006)

Year	Location	Final[3]
		Winner	Score	Runner-up
1997	San Francisco, California	Aspen	29 - 9	Old Blue
1998	New York, New York	Belmont Shore	28 - 10	Old Blue
1999	Denver, Colorado	Barbarians	22 - 18	Belmont Shore
2000	San Diego, California	Life	43 - 21	Aspen
2001	Rockford, Illinois	Aspen	56 - 21	OMBAC
2002	Aspen, Colorado	Aspen	34 - 23	Belmont Shore
2003	San Francisco, California	Belmont Shore	23 - 15	OMBAC
2004	Newport, Rhode Island	Belmont Shore	24 - 21	San Francisco Golden Gate
2005	East Hartford, Connecticut	NYAC	23 - 19	Belmont Shore
2006	Santa Clara, California	OMBAC	36 - 33	Belmont Shore

[edit] See also

• Rugby union in the United States
• North America 4
• United States national rugby union team

[edit] References

1. ^ About Rugby Super League. usarugbysuperleague.com. Retrieved on August 31, 2007.
2. ^ Boston Irish Wolfhounds To Join USA Rugby Super League. rugby-rugby.com. Retrieved on August 31, 2007.
3. ^ USA Rugby SuperLeague - Overview. usarugbysuperleague.com. Retrieved on August 31, 2007.

[edit] External link

• Official website