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One out of left field: New pro League comp?!

druzik

druzik

Juniors
Messages
1,804
http://www.rlcm.com.au/employment/positions-vacant/17069-rugby-league

THURSDAY, 14 JUNE 2012 05:02
Players and coaches are required to come to join the clubs of SuperIberica for 2013 launch season. SuperIberica will launch in May 2013 as the first professional rugby League competition in Spain, Portugal and Gibraltar. The eight team competition will include local players plus international players who have experienced a strong standard of RL.

International coaches will be allocated to each club with a role to cover on field playing success and also to oversee the development of the game in their area. All international players will be expected to assist in development at schools, universities and local communities.

Coaches and players will receive salaries from IPRO for their work and the highest standards will be expected.

Players interested should send their playing cv with full season by season information along with a summary of successes, representative honours and a medical/ injury history.

Coaches should have Level Three Accreditation or Level Two and be working to Level Three. Applications should include a season by season assessment and seasonal playing records. Details of work in developing RL should be included.

All applicants must include the contact information for two rugby league contacts for a reference and a third contact for a personal character reference.

All applicants must state if they have or are eligible for an EU passport or if they will require a visa.

Finally, also please state if you speak Spanish/ Portugese/ English on your application and how well.

Send your cv to apply to ipro2013@gmail.com and please put "Player" or "Coach" in the subject line with your name.

We hope you will join us and make SuperIberica the start of a great new sport in 2013.

Joao Oliveira
Chairman IPRO / SuperIberica
Click to expand...

Anyone heard anything about this?

Is this League or Union?
 
E

Evil Homer

Moderator
Staff member
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7,178
It's definitely supposed to be RL. There was supposed to be a similar RU competition a couple of years ago that disappeared without a trace. TBH, I can't see this being anything other than BS - it would be virtually impossible to run a professional competition with no local infrastructure or juniors, or an RL presence of any kind in the area, not to mention the issues of funding, support base etc. I saw this advert a while ago and disregarded it for that reason. Whatever though, I guess we'll see.
 
druzik

druzik

Juniors
Messages
1,804
See I am not totally convinced it is... the fact this has slipped through my radar has me questioning it and am thinking that the Union is trying to re-brand it as league.
 
K

Knownothing

Juniors
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764
druzik said:
See I am not totally convinced it is... the fact this has slipped through my radar has me questioning it and am thinking that the Union is trying to re-brand it as league.
Click to expand...


In Spain and Portugal, two countries where RU exists. Why on earth would they re-brand, they would lose their IRB funding, international matches, etc etc.?
 
druzik

druzik

Juniors
Messages
1,804
Knownothing said:
In Spain and Portugal, two countries where RU exists. Why on earth would they re-brand, they would lose their IRB funding, international matches, etc etc.?
Click to expand...

Well it's maybe a bit like in Poland. The top national Rugby Union competition is called the Polska RUGBY LEAGUE.... hence why we are using Rugby XIII in Poland.

It could be a case of re-branding since Rugby League (XIII) does not exist there and they can get in with name first.
 
K

Knownothing

Juniors
Messages
764
druzik said:
Well it's maybe a bit like in Poland. The top national Rugby Union competition is called the Polska RUGBY LEAGUE.... hence why we are using Rugby XIII in Poland.

It could be a case of re-branding since Rugby League (XIII) does not exist there and they can get in with name first.
Click to expand...


Fair enough, I suppose. Although the fact that Gibraltar is specifically mentioned, leads me to guess that this is a British initiative.
 
miguel de cervantes

miguel de cervantes

First Grade
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7,473
I can't see why it would be a reference to the pre-existing SuperIberica union comp which has existed since 2009. The fact that the letter finishes with "start of a great new sport in 2013." suggests that it is league.

I can't find any other info on it, nor on Joao Oliveira who is surely portuguese.

Very odd, hard to take seriously.
 
druzik

druzik

Juniors
Messages
1,804
I guess we shall see next year?

Interesting so by 2013/14 we will have 3 new pro-comps

Grand Prix Sports/AMNRL - USA - 2013
SuperIberica - Spain/Portugal/Gibraltar - 2013
FFRXIII - France - 2014

Will we really see any of these?
 
Perth Tiger

Perth Tiger

Bench
Messages
3,215
druzik said:
I guess we shall see next year?

Interesting so by 2013/14 we will have 3 new pro-comps

Grand Prix Sports/AMNRL - USA - 2013
SuperIberica - Spain/Portugal/Gibraltar - 2013
FFRXIII - France - 2014

Will we really see any of these?
Click to expand...

If only one of these comps get off the ground it will be a massive step forward for RL.
 
miguel de cervantes

miguel de cervantes

First Grade
Messages
7,473
I got one, albeit a generic response in english.

Hello and thank you for your interest in SuperIberica and our launch season 2013.

I apologise that this is an impersonal reply but we have received a large interest in positions with our competition and it has taken more time than expected to read each reply. If this reply has been more than a few days since you contacted us, it may be that you didn't include the correct information in the subject line of your email.

Our computer was set up to bring emails forward as priority with the correct subject line. We have not yet made final decisions and all applications will be read with a lot of interest from us.

If you did not include information about language skills in Spanish, Portugese and English please send us another email to confirm this and the same about your visa status. We will need to know if you are not an EU citizen or have access to an EU visa.

To some news from us.

SuperIberica will play from May to October 2013 with an eight team competition. The competition is run by IPRO (Iberian Professional Rugby Organisation) and through Rugby League Europe, IPRO will be able to help develop the national governing bodies for RL in Spain, Portugal and Gibraltar.

The eight teams will be run as individual franchises by groups in five Spanish ciities, two in Portugal and one in Gibraltar. The season is comprise a home and away round of 14 games per team and then a finals series to decide the champion club. There will be a break from league play mid-season when there will be a Tri Nations series for players qualified for Spain, Portugal and Gibraltar plus a Nines competition which will include teams invited from other developing RLE nations.

Coaches and Professional players will be paid by IPRO and will be initially contracted for one season. Contracts will have bonus payments based on team results and also on development of RL in the club's local area. Development is crucial to the game of RL in Iberia and coaches/ players will be highly involved in this.

Each team will be allocated an IPRO funded coach and four contracted players. Additionally, clubs may register additional professional players if they show financial resources to meet the contract payments for those players. The remaining places on team's rosters will be amateur players.

Clubs are permitted to negotiate additional payments and bonus payments to IPRO funded players and these payments would also be previewed by IPRO to ensure financial stability of the clubs.

Teams are based in southern Spain and Portugal plus the city state of Gibraltar. For 2014 there are development plans to play festivals in the Euskadi/ Basque and Catalan regions of Spain ahead of those teams joining the league in 2015.

Sponsorship agreements have been reached with a leading airline for shirt front sponsorship of all eight teams and with an internet auction website who will sponsor a sleeve with all teams. Teams will also look for their own sponsorship but these agreements go a long step to make all teams financially stable.

In the current economic climate, the stability of the teams is crucial to the league and we are sure you will agree about this.

The season has been timed to avoid a clash of dates with soccer clubs and will also give the best chance of attracting good crowds to games as over 2 million British holidaymakers are in these cities during our season. Teams will play in good quality local soccer grounds with capacity of 3,000- 5,000 people. Our estimate is approximately 1,000 at each game. This will make a great atmosphere and help to show local people what a great game we have.

Your interest in this position is very important to us and we will contact you more personally soon.

Sincerely,

Joao Oliveira
Chairman SuperIberica
Click to expand...
playing league in southern spain throughout summer? good luck with that.

and "rugby league europe"? is that supposed to be the RLEF? I'm going to fire off an email to DK.
 
Last edited:
druzik

druzik

Juniors
Messages
1,804
miguel de cervantes said:
I got one, albeit a generic response in english.

playing league in southern spain throughout summer? good luck with that.

and "rugby league europe"? is that supposed to be the RLEF? I'm going to fire off an email to DK.
Click to expand...

That just sounds like an automated computer response... if that is the case and they are not that serious to respond personally then I think its a gee up...

If its a Union thing that is using the term Rugby league, then they could be opening themselves to liability somewhere I think with the name.

I will also contact Danny, Tas and Neil about this.
 
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