The 2011 USARL season was the inaugural season of the

USA Rugby League The USA Rugby League (USARL) is the official governing body for rugby league, a code of rugby football, in the United States. The organization also runs the national amateur competition for club teams in the US. The league consists of six te ...

(USARL). The league was formed in January 2011 as a breakaway competition from the

American National Rugby League The American National Rugby League (AMNRL) was a rugby league organization in the United States that operated from 1997 to 2014. The country's first domestic rugby league competition, it hosted an annual league from 1998 through 2013. Throughout it ...

(AMNRL). The regular season kicked off on June 4 and ended on July 30; the

Jacksonville Axemen The Jacksonville Axemen are a semi-professional rugby league team based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. They currently play in the USA Rugby League (USARL). They play their home games at the North Practice Soccer Fields at the University of North F ...

won the minor premiership with the best regular season record. The first round of playoffs were played on August 13, 2011, with the

New Haven Warriors The New Haven Warriors were a rugby league football team based in New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. They played in the American National Rugby League (AMNRL) from 2006 to 2010 and in the USA Rugby League (USARL) from 2011 to 2012 before withdrawing. T ...

and

Philadelphia Fight The Philadelphia Fight are a semi professional rugby league team based in the Delaware Valley, Philadelphia metropolitan area. They currently compete in the USA Rugby League, having formerly competed in the now defunct American National Rugby Le ...

winning the round. The league's Grand Final took place on August 27 between the

and the

. Philadelphia won 28–26, receiving their first national championship.

Teams

Season table

Ladder progression

*Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 4. *Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round. *Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished last place on the ladder in that round.

Regular season

The inaugural USARL season opened with a pre-season rugby league nines tournament. Seven of the top-tier teams participated, with the

fielding two teams. Additionally, two developmental teams (the

Orange County Outlaws Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

and the

Utah Avalanche The American National Rugby League (AMNRL) was a rugby league organization in the United States that operated from 1997 to 2014. The country's first domestic rugby league competition, it hosted an annual league from 1998 through 2013. Throughout it ...

) participated, along with a

West Chester University West Chester University (also known as West Chester, WCU, or WCUPA, and officially as West Chester University of Pennsylvania) is a public research university in and around West Chester, Pennsylvania. The university is accredited by the Middle ...

student team and the visiting

New Zealand Police The New Zealand Police ( mi, Ngā Pirihimana o Aotearoa) is the national police service and principal law enforcement agency of New Zealand, responsible for preventing crime, enhancing public safety, bringing offenders to justice, and maintai ...

invitational side. The New Zealand Police won the tournament over the

. For the regular season, each team played home and away against six teams once, and one team twice, in an eight-round home and away season. Teams qualified for the playoffs based on point differential, with a win counting for 2 points, a draw for 1, a loss for 0, and a forfeit for −2. The

won the minor premiers with the best season record.

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Playoffs

The playoffs consist of a two-round single-elimination tournament in August. The season's top four teams competed in a semi-final round, with the two winners going on to the Championship Final. In the first round on August 13, the first-place

hosted fourth-place

Hodges Stadium Hodges Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium at the University of North Florida (UNF), and the home field for the North Florida Ospreys soccer, track and field, and cross country teams. It is located on the university's campus in Jacksonville, Flori ...

, and the second-place

Washington D.C. Slayers The Washington D.C. Slayers were a rugby league football team based in Washington, D.C. who last played in the USA Rugby League. They played their home games at Duke Ellington Field near Georgetown Hospital. The Slayers, along with the Connectic ...

hosted the third-place

at Duke Ellington Field. The games were won by New Haven and Philadelphia, who went on to the inaugural Grand Final on August 27. Philadelphia defeated New Haven 28–26, winning their first ever national championship.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:2011 USARL Season USARL season USA Rugby League Seasons in American rugby league 2011 in American sports