USA Student Rugby League - The eyes of a very powerful force are just starting to open
by Daryl Howland

After a very successful year of rugby league in the USA, the domestic public have begun to see the sport for its true greatness. Since the last Student World Cup, which saw most of the team drawn from the North East area, the expansion of rugby league in the USA has grown all the way to the west coast. This has increased our player pool immensely, and allowed us to select players from California, Arizona, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Connecticut. Due to this, seven of our student players were selected for the North East All Star team to play against the Australian Police touring side in Philadelphia in October, with four of them then going on to be included in the USA Tomahawks national side for the World Cup qualifiers.

We hope that the inclusion of students in the national side will allow us to continue to grow and therefore attract sponsorship at all levels to strengthen the sport across the United States. With the driving force of people like David Niu, who has become Mr Rugby League America, and the dedication of those who play the game in the States at this pioneering stage combined with the outlook and support of people like Niel Wood and the rest of the SRL, we are looking forward to opening a lot more eyes at the next SRL World Cup.

We now realise that the foundations have been laid and as long as the growth of the sport continues to reach more of the athletes in this huge country, it will not be long before the USA is fielding teams that will be competing with the traditional powers. So to end this, the first inclusion of the SRL here in the USA, we first thank those people such as Madison Printing and Cheap Date Moving from Boston, whose support allowed the team to compete at World level. Secondly, we thank all the players and supporters who give their time, effort and money for the love of the game and the dream of its growth domestically. A special thanks must also go out to the Australian and Irish teams who helped us throughout the tour. You have no idea how what seemed to be nothing more than lending a hand has given all those involved the knowledge that the USA is supported and welcomed into the SRL.

So we will now take the next two years to expand the support here, and extend invitations to every nation to include the USA on their tour options, and come the next Student Rugby League World Cup, we hope to have a side that will make your eyes bulge.

Daryl "Spinner" Howland (Coach, USA Student Team)