Jamaica’s national Rugby League team will depart the island on Monday, August 16 on a two week tour of England, courtesy of their airline partners Virgin Atlantic. The tour is intended to expose more of Jamaica’s domestic players to high level Rugby League as the country continues preparing for a historic World Cup qualification campaign in 2011.

Ten domestic based players will join Seven UK based teammates to face the Great Britain Community Lions on August 22, at the South Leeds Stadium Middleton Grove, Leeds. The Great Britain Community Lions are the officially recognised squad representing the whole of Amateur Rugby League in Great Britain.

On August 25, Jamaica will complete its tour by competing for the second time in the most competitive Nines competition in the Northern hemisphere, the Carnegie Floodlit Nines, to be played at Headingley Carnegie Stadium, Leeds. The team will compete alongside fellow international teams, Wales and Scotland, plus ten Super League clubs, including hosts Leeds Rhinos, holders Hull FC, as well as Northern Rail 9s champions, Halifax.

JRLA Development Officer Romeo Monteith who leads the tour, believes the experience will have a positive impact on the domestic game:

 “Our domestic players can only improve when they come up against some of the best Rugby League players in the world. This tour is intended to improve the experience of local players and open their eyes to how the world’s toughest team sport is played in a fully professionalized setting. In addition, it will help the domestic based internationals bond with their UK based teammates, a process which is vital as we build towards our game against the USA in November”

 The team will be smartly outfitted by UK sports company Kukri, who continues to partner with Jamaica national side.

Ian Kilpatrick, sales manager at Kukri is happy with the progress of the sport in Jamaica. “It’s great to see Rugby League become a growing sport in Jamaica and we are thrilled to be part of the set up”.

The Jamaican squad will be based in Bradford from August 17-27, and London from the 28 to the 30^th.

Domestic Based Players

Andre Reid                    Duhaney Park Red Sharks
Romaen Campbell        Duhaney Park Red Sharks
Ryan Grant                    Duhaney Park Red Sharks
Robert Rodney              Olympic Angels  

Tyronie Rowe                Vauxhall Vultures
Omar Jones                   Vauxhall Vultures
Andrew Fong                 Vauxhall Vultures
Jermaine Pinnock          Duhaney Park Red Sharks
Damon Gayle                 Duhaney Park Red Sharks         
Carlyle Burger                Vauxhall Vultures   

Defending Kingston and St Andrew Rugby League champions, Vauxhall Vultures, defeated a spirited Olympic Angels team 38-10 on Saturday. The Olympic Angels fought gallantly against a talent packed Vultures outfit and only trailed 10-18 at half time. Their two tries came courtesy of Oniel Foga and Russell McPherson early in the game. However, two tries Omar O'Sullivan, Donald Walters, Clifford Clarke and Everton Richards (2) in the second half, saw the champions pull away for a fairly comfortable win in the end.

In the second match of the day, Duhaney Park Red Sharks overpowered the GC Foster All-stars by 60-1 at the Baldwin Crescent mini stadium in Duhaney Park. The Red Sharks signaled their intention when they scored off their first possession of the game. Renaldo Wade, Marvin Thompson and Damion Coley all got doubles for the Sharks.

In the next round of games (Sat. July 31), Olympic will entertain Duhaney Park at home, while GC Foster will visit Vauxhall. All games are slated for a 4pm kick off.

The fixtures’ continue with Rd 6 Saturday on August 21, when the Vauxhall Vultures will host Duhaney Park, meanwhile, GC Foster All Stars will entertain Olympic Gardens at home.

The Duhaney Park Red Sharks are a perfect two from two in the JRLA  Kingston championship.

The Red Sharks defeated the Olympic Angels 60-0 on July 03, and then outclassed debutants GC Foster Allstars 60-6 on Sat. Jul 10.

Defending champions, Vauxhall Vultures are yet to play a game as their two scheduled games to date has been affected by the weather and a curfew respectively.

 The competition has been further affected by the recent civil unrest, as two times champions, Jamaica Defence Force are unable to participate due to the ongoing state of emergency in parts of the island.

                                                          Rugby League Day, Saturday June 26

The JRLA will stage its first ever Rugby League Day, this thSaturday, June 26, at the Red Stripe playing gound in Kingston and St Andrew.  All the teams that play rugby league have been invited to attend. There will be a knock-out 9s, the St Catherine Finals, and the Community Shield trophy contested.Due to he unrest in Kingston, the day was postponed from May 26. Come out any enjoy a great family, drinks will be dirt cheap at the D&G bar. The will start at 11am.

                                                                   Higjh School U19 Championship.

The inaugural JRLA High School 9s Championship was a resounding success over the weekend. On Saturday June 19^th, Jamaica’s newest converts to Rugby League showed off their skills at the Calabar High School ground. The pitch was green, rain lingered in the air, and over 40 school boys dug in for a memorable tournament

Calabar emerged winners with a 3-0 record.  They were led by the big Prop forward, Romaen “Gully” Campbell, who terrorized his opponents with his sheer power throughout the day.  The former  Shot-Put Thrower converted to Rugby in late 2008 and has been the most dominant school boy of either code over the past 18 months. His teammates backed him up as no points were scored against the team in the tournament.

Greater Portmore High, led by another impressive player, Odane Gordon, finished in second place. Gordon made some telling breaks throughout the day, and his ferocious tackling gained the respect of his peers.

Spanish Town High and St Catherine were the other two schools competing, finishing third and fourth respectively. The tournament was played on a round robin basis. The students were especially appreciative of the protective padding for the goal post donated to the JRLA by Virgin Atlantic Airlines, a major sponsor of the national team.

Jamaica RDO Romeo Monteith was thrilled with another succesful project:

"The joy on the faces said it all, several of the students and coaches expressed how well organized the tournament was and that they had so much fun. The demand for the game is increasing at an incredible pace, its really great to see the boys fall in love with a great sport. We just hope we can satisfy the demand. This september, the Championship will increase to a series of 9's throughout the school year, and so the boys have a lot more to look forward to."