USA to Play Jamaica in Jacksonville Nov 14

[spinnerhowland]

For Immediate Release: USA National Rugby League Team to play a full international game in Jacksonville, Florida. (www.jaxaxe.com)

The Jacksonville Axemen in partnership with the American National Rugby League (AMNLR) and the Jamaican Rugby League Association (JRLA), are excited and proud to announce that a full international game between the two nations will take place at the University of North Florida on Saturday November 14th. The USA Tomahawks will square off against the Jamaicans in this historic event.

The game will be the first in what is hoped to become an annual “Atlantic Cup” that will see additional nations added in future years. Jacksonville was given approval to host the game after the Axemen submitted a proposal to both teams and the world governing body for the sport, who all agreed to give full sanctioning to the event as an international game.

Event coordinator Spinner Howland commented on the importance of the game, “It is important that everyone in Jacksonville understands the full meaning of this game. It is real international competition that will see the best athletes from each country take the field to do battle under their nation’s flag. The game will affect the international rankings of each country and could well have effect on future world cup qualification plans. Representing for your country is the biggest honor anyone can be asked and the adrenalin that flows on game day always means that meetings like this are played with incredible intensity that proves to be an amazing spectacle for the fans. There is no feeling in the world like running onto the field dressed in your nation’s colors and having thousands of screaming fans supporting you. We know that Jacksonville will show up in force for the USA team.”

The Axemen offered a list of reasons why Jacksonville is the ideal city to host and event such as this
- There is strong patriotism in the region that is strengthened by the number of military personal that reside in the Jacksonville area. This is the full USA Team that is made up of the best Rugby League players from across the entire country and they will be representing the United States the same way Olympic or World Cup athletes do. We know Jacksonville will support them.
- Jacksonville has a strong following of Rugby League supporters after similar events between international teams in recent years
- The Axemen have grown a large dedicated and local fan base during their four year existence in the domestic AMNRL competition and with some of the Axemen players representing the USA, those fans are going to be able to connect with the national team on a home team level
- The University of North Florida (UNF) has been a great partner for the sport as a host venue and they provide some of the best facilities in the world for the sport of Rugby League.
- The geographical distance to Jamaica also makes it an attractive venue for the visiting team

Support is also coming from the various world governing bodies for the sport of Rugby League and they will watch closely as Jacksonville continues to become a known city for hosting such international games in the future.

Kevin Rudd, who is representing the European and International Federations for Rugby League commented, “This is a fantastic and exciting inaugural event and we look forward to the Atlantic Cup developing further in the future. Thanks must go to both teams and the Jacksonville Axemen to bringing the event to fruition. A number of other Rugby League Nations will be watching it for possible inclusion in the future.”

The President of the AMNRL, David Niu commented on the event, "The American National Rugby League is committed to the development of the sport of Rugby League in the USA. The opportunity to present our national team, the USA Tomahawks in an International Fixture with Jamaica will be an ideal chance to measure the development and rising standard of our domestic competition through the performance of our elite players in this game. With the match being hosted at Hodges Stadium at UNF all fans of rugby league throughout the world, in America and the Florida region can once again experience the city of Jacksonville and the first class event presentation developed by Spinner Howland and the Jacksonville Axemen. We look forward to an exciting game before a large dedicated fan base that have been huge supporters of rugby league for a number of years now cheering on our friends from Jamaica, the Tomahawks and local favorites from the Axemen squad who will be representing the USA."

The Axemen hosted a preliminary version of the Jamaican team in 2007 and scraped by with a narrow win. Since then however the island national has become one of the best known emerging nations in the sport and with quite a few of their players now under professional contracts in the United Kingdom, the Jamaicans will be a tough assignment for the Tomahawks.

Jamaican Development Officer Romeo Montieth is excited about the upcoming event, “This test match against the USA will be a tough assignment, however I am confident that our boys will give the Tomahawks more than enough opposition and the fans a great game. We are appealing to all Jamaicans in Florida to turn out in numbers to cheer our boys on and witness a truly great game of Rugby League.”

Teams members will begin arriving into Jacksonville on Wednesday November 11 to prepare for the Saturday game.

Event information and ticket purchase info can be found at www.jaxaxe.com
There are also a number of sponsorship options available for the event – e-mail spinner@jaxaxe.com

American National Rugby League at www.amnrl.com

Jamaican Rugby League Association at www.jamaicarugbyleague.com

 

[nadera78]

Excellent news. Good luck to everyone involved, I hope it is a great game and attracts a large and supportive crowd. Could be the start of a great rivalry.

 

[MR KNIGHT]

Great news, there should be alot of good real (american born) American talent, especially from Jax, New York, New Haven etc

 

[deluded pom?]

Great news but strange timing from an American perspective. Their season will have been over for three months when the game is played.

 

[KiwiStorm]

Brilliant work Spinner, it will be a great game.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

It'd be a great game to see. Wish I could be there. Hopefully with Jax going well and attracting good crowds there will be plenty of support for this game. It'll be interesting to see how the Jamaicans stand up against the Tomahawks who have a lot more players to choose from and probably a fair bit more experience too.

 

[DINGb@T]

Well done to everyone involved, especially you Spinner. We're gonna have to name something after you

Will be good to see the Tomahawks and Jamaicans playing on a fairly even footing, although the Tomahawks do have experience.

Anyone care to have a stab at what the teams may be and who to look out for?

 

[deluded pom?]

A couple of questions Spinner. Will the game be streamed on the 'net and will programmes be printed? ;-)

 

[BatiFan]

I would imagine Jamaica will have a blend of Jamaican domestic players mixed with UK based professionals. Remember that Jamaica have players the likes of Karl and Waine Pryce, Alex Brown (Huddersfield), Kallum Watkins and Ryan Bailey (Leeds), Lamont Bryan (Harlequins), Jon Simpson (Batley), Jermaine Wray (Keighley) amongst others that are eliegible. Dependant on whether those players declare their willingness to participate and clubs allow them to do so, I would imagine a blend of the above names with Jamaican based players would be extremely competitive and somewhat more experienced than USA.

 

[spinnerhowland]

Internet TV Streaming - The budget is VERY tight for this event due to items we have supplied for both teams (We want them to be treated as professionally as possible while in JAX) so the deal we used for our past season would be too expensive to use for a ONE OFF event. We are doing some research on finding optional ways to get it on the web. At the moment we cannot confirm it but we will do what we can to have it happen. I will release on the site as things develop

 

[nadera78]

I would imagine Jamaica will have a blend of Jamaican domestic players mixed with UK based professionals. Remember that Jamaica have players the likes of Karl and Waine Pryce, Alex Brown (Huddersfield), Kallum Watkins and Ryan Bailey (Leeds), Lamont Bryan (Harlequins), Jon Simpson (Batley), Jermaine Wray (Keighley) amongst others that are eliegible. Dependant on whether those players declare their willingness to participate and clubs allow them to do so, I would imagine a blend of the above names with Jamaican based players would be extremely competitive and somewhat more experienced than USA.

Some of those boys have already played for Jamaica (Waine Pryce, Jermain Wray) and some would have in the Carnegie Nines but had club commitments (Lamont Bryan).

Karl Pryce and Ryan Bailley might throw their hats in the ring if they think (rightly!) that they've no chance of making it for England.

No chance of Kallum Watkins playing for them, he's guaranteed to be an England international.

 

[RedVee]

Great initiative, I hope it is a resounding success.

 

[Big Picture]

Great news but strange timing from an American perspective. Their season will have been over for three months when the game is played.

On the contrary it's great timing, coming 2 weeks after the Florida-Georgia game sells out Municipal Stadium, on a weekend when the Gators play away at South Carolina. If organizers can market the game to those SEC football fans effectively, Hodges Stadium might sell out for this

 

[deluded pom?]

On the contrary it's great timing, coming 2 weeks after the Florida-Georgia game sells out Municipal Stadium, on a weekend when the Gators play away at South Carolina. If organizers can market the game to those SEC football fans effectively, Hodges Stadium might sell out for this

I meant purely from a playing perspective not a marketing one.

 

[Big Picture]

I meant purely from a playing perspective not a marketing one.

We're only a month after the AMNRLUS season ended so players should still be in reasonable condition, and it's still 7 weeks until the game so they have time to get themselves back into game shape. It should work out fine.

 

[photomarv]

We're only a month after the AMNRLUS season ended so players should still be in reasonable condition, and it's still 7 weeks until the game so they have time to get themselves back into game shape. It should work out fine.

Absolutely right. Also remember many of the AMNRL guys also play Union, so they should be in some discernible shape when this comes around.. I also think Jamaica will come in with a respectable squad..

We'll be vacationing in Miami, so unfortunately I won't be able to shoot or watch this match. Should be a good one.

 

[deluded pom?]

We're only a month after the AMNRLUS season ended so players should still be in reasonable condition, and it's still 7 weeks until the game so they have time to get themselves back into game shape. It should work out fine.

It will be almost three months since the GF teams played and more for the rest of the league. I'm not doubting their physical condition just their match sharpness which will have lost it's edge. Some players may well go from playing union straight into an international match. If this game can be consolidated into the JRLA and the AMNRL calendar then I think they need to look at moving it nearer to the end of whichever season finishes last.

 

[spinnerhowland]

The problem is that as the AMNRL and JRLA seasons end, both college and NRL football is just starting. Once they do there are a number of hurdles
- It is hard to get any Media to cover our sport and it is almost impossible to get it on weekends the Jags play in JAX and the Univerity of Florida play in Gainesville
- It is also hard to find affordable Advertising/PR options on those weekends
- It is harder to find sponsors who can support the event when both of the above teams play at home.

Given that the Axemen are 100% underwriting this event in the hope to breaking even with attendance and some small sponsors I have done plenty of research on what weekend is our best chance of making it work. (I don't want to be working two jobs forever to make RL work over here!!!)

When you are the small fish in a tank full of big fish, you choose the times you come out to feed very carefully.

 

[deluded pom?]

Message received and understood Spinner.

 

[deluded pom?]

Who will be choosing the USA squad Spinner?