Country Catalonia First played 2007 | National team Catalonia | |
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Governing body Associació Catalana de Rugby Lliga | ||
Rugby league has been played in Catalonia since 2007. The governing body of the game is the Catalan Rugby League Association.
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History
Rugby league started in Catalonia in autumn 2007, with the advice of people from the French Catalan region, where this sport has been played since the 1930s. The number of clubs has been growing since 3 clubs participated in the first competition to reach 9 teams in the first Catalonia Championships in April 2009.
The Catalan representative side made their debut in January 2008, when they participated in the French Interleague Championship held near Perpignan, in France.
Governing body
The governing body for rugby league in Catalonia has been the Associació Catalana de Rugby Lliga, being an unranked member of the Rugby League European Federation with Official observer status since 2008.
Competitions
The first Catalan competition, the Catalonia Cup, took place in April 2008 with 3 teams: FC Barcelona, Aligots de Girona and Nord-Català. The winners were FC Barcelona.
In February 2009 the first Catalan university rugby league championship took place, with seven universities teams participating: Perpinyà, Ramon Llull, Girona, Autònoma de Barcelona, Vic, Politècnica de Catalunya and Pompeu Fabra. Universitat de Perpinyà were the winners.
In Spring 2009 was played the first Catalan Rugby League Championship, with nine teams in competition: Barcelona Universitari Club, Club de Rugby Sant Cugat, CE INEF Lleida, GEIEG, Club Natació Poble Nou - Enginyers, Club de Rugby Tarragona, Garrotxa Rugbi Club, Club Atlètic Vic - Crancs and Club Rugby Valls. Barcelona Universitari Club were the champions.
The National Team
The Catalonia national rugby league team played their first full international losing to Morocco in a game played prior to the Catalans Dragons vs Warrington Wolves Super League, on June 21, 2008.
In June 2009, Catalonia beat the Czech Republic in a match played prior to the Catalans Dragons vs Warrington Wolves Super League game, this time played in Barcelona. This match was an international warm-up ahead of the Euro Med Challenge contested by Catalonia, Morocco and Belgium. They lost 6-29 at home to Morocco and 28-22 at Belgium.