UFRL Receives Government Backing

[deluded pom?]

http://www.rlef.eu.com/news/article/827/ukraine-rl-receives-highest-government

17th June 2014

Rugby league now has: “All the elements to make a massive leap forward in Ukraine,” according to Ukrainian Rugby League Federation (UFRL) president Artur Martyrosyan.

The positive noises are the result of the sport’s inclusion in the ‘Unified Sports Classification’ list controlled by the ministry of sport, and follow January’s permission for rugby league to form part of the government sport school curriculum.

“It’s a very significant success for rugby league,” continued Martyrosyan. “We now have every element of a major national sport and we can expect a big leap in participation throughout the country.”

“This is one of the most important things that has happened to the UFRL: we received official recognition in 2012, created and lodged a study programme in 2013 and now have the classification.”

It means that players and coaches will be recognised for their achievements with five distinctions that define their aptitude and experience which are also linked to pay-scales in the sports industry, making involvement in rugby league a more attractive proposition.

The UFRL will now begin a project to invite potential leaders from ten target cities - Kiev, Lviv, Rivne, Khmel`nyc`kyy, Uzhgorod, Irpin, Dnipropetrovs`k, Odessa, Mikolaiv and Dneip - to a series of education seminars in Kharkov.

They will deliver match official and coach education programmes and begin local development at junior and senior level.

The next phase of the project will be for the current second division clubs to become part of an expanded first division while the new cities form either regional competitions or a national second division.

At the end of 2014 the UFRL, which received government funding last year for the first time, will submit its annual dossier to the sports ministry in a bid to increase its funding in line with its expanded operations and, crucially, its official status.

Next week sees the recommencement of the Ukrainian championship with Crimean clubs Simferopol and Sevastopol travelling to Krivoy Rog.

Pictured: Junior rugby is set to increase in Ukraine

 

[Dakink]

Big boost for the game. Hope the political unrest doesnt stunt the growth.

 

[nadera78]

Awesome stuff, and good to see clubs from the Crimea still actively participating in the competition.

 

[miguel de cervantes]

Some interesting info on Wiki that I wasn't aware of:

Ukrainian rugby has strong ties with the military, with the strongest side being the airforce Aviator Kyiv.[2]
Like many other minor rugby nations, the game tend to be centred on the capital, Kiev.[2]


It is quite frequent for rugby in Ukraine to be played using a mixture of rugby union and rugby league rules.[2]


Naturally, Ukrainian rugby has been affected by social and economic conditions since independence. In 2006, the Kiev Post reported that the junior rugby coach for Ukraine had been attacked, being run down, and then shot four times, twice in the head.[4]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_union_in_Ukraine

 

[yakstorm]

This is massive news for a sport like ours. Receiving recognition from the government is one thing but to be put in one of the highest classifications is a remarkable, especially considering there would only be a few countries where League is played where it would have received similar recognition.

Throw in the fact that the sport has been able to partake in the national sport school curriculum, players and coaches now receive recognised for their achievements and the leadership program they are kick starting, things are looking very positive.

 

[deal.with.it]

Its nothing short of brilliant.

Which nations do we know get big gov funding?
Aus, NZ, PNG, Fiji, Eng, Wales, Ukraine, France??

 

[RUG13Y]

Ukraine just got put on the map.

 

[Bronco Rob]

Its nothing short of brilliant.

Which nations do we know get big gov funding?
Aus, NZ, PNG, Fiji, Eng, Wales, Ukraine, France??

It is brilliant.

Ireland also gets govt funding now.

This why we need a bona-fide World Cup, most fledgling nations will have sports officials that will think that RL is just an off-shoot to RU and not a bona-fide sport on its own virtues. With a serious World Cup and participation in the Commonwealth Games, this will go a long way in changing this thinking.

 

[deal.with.it]

We just have to keep persisting and be patient.
Admission into Sport Accord, Commonwealth games etc takes time with bureacracy

 

[miguel de cervantes]

Ukraine just got put on the map.

It would certainly be a huge strategical advance if league got to a decent level in the Ukraine. It would be the centrepiece linking Serbia, Hungary, Czech Rep and Russia, possibly Georgia down the track, a relatively homogenous set of leagues that could work together in an eastern euro bloc.