Canadian RL article

[Bombay Devils RLFC]

Saw this thought it would of interest to those in Canada


http://www.squamishchief.com/articl...945/-1/squamish/rugby-league-set-for-squamish

 

[billy2]

Canada has about 3 years to get strong enough to compete for a spot in the next WC.
The way they are going they can do it.

 

[Evil Homer]

The first quote made me cringe a little, describing the sport as a 'spin off of Rugby Union' is probably the worst way he could have introduced the game, especially in somewhere where presumably RU isn't that well known or popular. Other than that it's a good article and great that they are getting media coverage.

 

[PacificCoastRL]

Actually EH, union is quite popular in that area. British Columbia could arguably be called the "heartland" of union in Canada, and one of the more active and famous clubs in the British Columbia Rugby Union is Capilano RFC, who will now be sharing the region with the Sea2Sky Eagles RLFC. I never like to compare union and league myself, but living here in British Columbia, where union is quite popular, it is the easiest way to paint a picture for the uninitiated. As an aside - I just checked the British Columbia high schools rugby union site - two teams from this area are ranked in the top 10 in British Columbia.

 

[Evil Homer]

Actually EH, union is quite popular in that area. British Columbia could arguably be called the "heartland" of union in Canada, and one of the more active and famous clubs in the British Columbia Rugby Union is Capilano RFC, who will now be sharing the region with the Sea2Sky Eagles RLFC. I never like to compare union and league myself, but living here in British Columbia, where union is quite popular, it is the easiest way to paint a picture for the uninitiated. As an aside - I just checked the British Columbia high schools rugby union site - two teams from this area are ranked in the top 10 in British Columbia.

That's interesting, I was just going off the fact that I have some fairly distant relatives from Vancouver that I met a few years ago and they had never heard of 'rugby' of any kind. Either way, I think it's a better approach to first and foremost try and attract new people to the sport, and keep the references and comparisons with Union at a minimum. That way, you develop a RL culture and avoid some of the negative stigma associated with RU.

 

[PacificCoastRL]

Well, union isn't as popular as the Big 4 pro sports obviously, but nearly every high school in British Columbia has a team. I just took a look at Canada's roster that was in New Zealand at the World Cup. Thirteen of the thirty players on the roster are from British Columbia and of those 13, three are from the aforementioned Capilano RFC. Having said all that, your relatives would not be alone in thinking there wasn't much rugby union here, because it is definately not a mainstream sport, and certainly not played professionally, although I am sure money does change hands in some cases, especially with the higher echelon clubs that populate the Vancouver and Victoria areas.

 

[deluded pom?]

That's interesting, I was just going off the fact that I have some fairly distant relatives from Vancouver that I met a few years ago and they had never heard of 'rugby' of any kind. Either way, I think it's a better approach to first and foremost try and attract new people to the sport, and keep the references and comparisons with Union at a minimum. That way, you develop a RL culture and avoid some of the negative stigma associated with RU.

Bearing in mind that Canada have played in several RU WCs and the game is well established there then I find it difficult to comprehend that your relly has never heard of rugby period.

 

[Evil Homer]

Bearing in mind that Canada have played in several RU WCs and the game is well established there then I find it difficult to comprehend that your relly has never heard of rugby period.

That's what I thought, but they had never even heard of the word 'rugby', I had to teach them to pronounce it. I think maybe we buy into the RU propaganda a little and overstate its mainstream popularity at times, it's not really all that significant globally.

 

[Thomas]

How else would you pronounce rugby?

 

[BODISGOD]

That's interesting, I was just going off the fact that I have some fairly distant relatives from Vancouver that I met a few years ago and they had never heard of 'rugby' of any kind. Either way, I think it's a better approach to first and foremost try and attract new people to the sport, and keep the references and comparisons with Union at a minimum. That way, you develop a RL culture and avoid some of the negative stigma associated with RU.

Woah it seems you've got yourself a bit muddled here.

On the one hand your saying that few people know what rugby is there but then when you were pulled up on it you were said that your point was that there's a stigma involved with RU and that would drive people away. How would people attach a stigma to something which they don't know exists?

Leave BC Rugby League to promote the game the way that they know best.

 

[BODISGOD]

How else would you pronounce rugby?

Shhh it makes his story seem more authentic.

 

[Evil Homer]

Shhh it makes his story seem more authentic.

Why on earth would I make something like that up :lol: They had never heard the word 'rugby', they thought I was saying 'ruggy' or something and didn't know what it was. Maybe they just live in a hole and RU is massively popular in the rest of Vancouver, I don't think it makes any difference. I just want to see the sport promoted in its own right and not as a spin-off of something else, especially something that is inferior in every way. Stop being so defensive.

 

[BODISGOD]

You gave out that they mentioned RU saying few people even know what rugby is then said that you really meant was that RU culture would put people off playing. :crazy:

Leave the promotion of Rugby League to BC and the article to the journalist who is willing to write about it. The comparisons are inevitable and as they say if there's an elephant in the room introduce it and then just get on with telling people about Rugby League.

Good article.

 

[Evil Homer]

You gave out that they mentioned RU saying few people even know what rugby is then said that you really meant was that RU culture would put people off playing. :crazy:

No I didn't :?

Relying on primarily RU players isn't ever a good idea for a number of reasons. The point is that if people like RU, they will probably already play RU. If they know of RU and don't play, then the chances are they don't like the sport for whatever reason and so probably aren't going to be interested in a 'spin off'. If they don't know RU, then again the 'spin off' line probably won't mean much to them. It just seems counter productive to me, I'd rather see RL pushed as a new and unique sport, as it is in the second paragraph.

 

[BODISGOD]

That's interesting, I was just going off the fact that I have some fairly distant relatives from Vancouver that I met a few years ago and they had never heard of 'rugby' of any kind. Either way, I think it's a better approach to first and foremost try and attract new people to the sport, and keep the references and comparisons with Union at a minimum. That way, you develop a RL culture and avoid some of the negative stigma associated with RU.

That negative stigma eh.

When you just say rugby league if anyone actually had a negative perception of rugby union coming into the article then they would probably stop reading as they wouldn't know what RL is and just think RU,

As I said if there's an elephant in the room...

 

[Evil Homer]

That negative stigma eh.

When you just say rugby league if anyone actually had a negative perception of rugby union coming into the article then they would probably stop reading as they wouldn't know what RL is and just think RU,

As I said if there's an elephant in the room...

Yeah, I'm fully aware of what I wrote. There's a thread with 200 posts in this forum discussing the negative implications of the name 'rugby' and the association with RU. I guess this doesn't apply in Canada so much where 'rugby' probably has a better image and is more popular than in the US, but it's still potentially a problem when you are trying to market a new sport that in reality isn't all that similar. Either way, I think they could have dealt with this problem in other ways rather than belittling RL by inaccurately describing it as a 'bit of a spin-off'. Even though as a Union fan I'm sure you see it that way.

 

[Thomas]

Negative stigma? It's just a f**king game, man.

But well done you.

 

[PacificCoastRL]

Homer, I understand your concern and I did not take what you said as anything more than constructive. I'm involved with BCRL and I can only say that this is the tact we have taken to spread the word. Time will tell if this is the right way to go. We may just do an about face as they have in the Netherlands, whose to know until that time comes.