Indonesian news

[Bluebags1908]

I found this article dated 19th September on the following website:
http://www.balisports.com/

Bali Sports Foundation not involved in Rugby League

19 Sep 2011

Bali Sports Foundation was set up to promote sporting opportunities for Indonesian children who would under normal circumstances not have the opportunity to be coached by experienced professionals nor have access to competitive team games.

It was with this in mind that the Bali Sports Foundation sought and obtained a small grant from the Australian Rugby League and from AusAid, the Foundation was provided with a young volunteer, Chris Newman, sponsored through the Sports Foundation and whose role was understood to be to promote the game of Rugby League to Indonesians.

It now transpires that Mr Newman’s brief from the Australian Rugby League was somewhat different to the mission of the Bali Sports Foundation. Due to a conflict of both approach and mission, Bali Sports Foundation has severed its ties with the Rugby League and Chris Newman.

Doesn't sound like great news... but then I found this article dated very recently on 24th October. In particular the red bits which sort of relte to the above article:

League a big hit in Bali



24/10/2011 10:59:32 AM

When we think of rugby league being played around the world, Indonesia probably isn’t the first place that comes to mind. But thanks to Chris Newman, that may soon change. The rugby league development officer has spent the last three months in Bali promoting and developing the game.

Newman says rugby league has taken off well with our neighbouring country.

‘We managed to get schools and the local community actively involved in the game and it is now being taught and played across the islands of Indonesia’. A supporter group of parents has also developed for the program.

Even with Newman’s departure, there is infrastructure in place to make sure the game continues to be enjoyed. Left behind were some fantastic resources including, mouthguards, tackle bags, markers and even had a sponsor secure a field for fulltime use for the International Rugby League Federation.

And Newman isn’t done yet… In the next couple of weeks, he will tackle Samoa. Armed with One Community resources and plenty of merchandise for the kids he will roll out a similar program aimed at spreading the joy of rugby league.

So was his departure pre-planned or not??

Looking at their website http://indonesianrugbylea1.fatcow.com/, a 4 team local competition has kicked off, but they have only played one game so far - Tegalalang Tigers beat Canggu Chillis 42-43, with East Coast Storm and Kerobokan Tigers still to play a game. Video highlights of this game is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHdLp1QQVcg&feature=player_embedded

The 'Events' section does however have 'Bali Rugby League Premiership' noted for Denpasar at 10am with a map location of sports fields, although there are no specific games mentioned, it seems very vague so not sure if that means there will be games this weekend?

 

[rlv]

There would surely be some sort of Rugby League in West Papua which is part of Indonesia??