Canada Rugby League (CRL) (french: Rugby à XIII du Canada) is the governing body for the sport of

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

football in Canada. Founded in 2010, the CRL organizes the Canada national rugby league team and supports the development of the game through the country's domestic competitions.

History

Canada Rugby League was formed in February 2010, by Eric Perez, "with a vision to bring rugby league to the people of Canada". The organisation was founded to redevelop organised rugby league in Canada, which had been dormant since the Canadian Rugby League Federation folded in 2000. The CRL reestablished the Canada national rugby league team to participate in international competition and set up a domestic league from which national team players would be drawn. The team played its first competitive game in ten years at the 2010 "War at the Shore" tournament, hosted by 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) in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. In September 2010 CRL hosted its first international game in Canada, with Canada facing the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in the Colonial Cup. Later that year they competed in the

Rugby League Atlantic Cup 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 ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

. Canada won its first international match since 2000 on 31 July 2011 defeating Jamaica 40-10 in Markham, Ontario. In 2017,

Toronto Wolfpack The Toronto Wolfpack are a Canadian professional rugby league club based in Toronto, Ontario, who compete in the North American Rugby League. The club originally competed in the British rugby league system but withdrew in the 2020 Super Leagu ...

to begin play in the third tier of the

British rugby league system The British rugby league system is based on a five-tier structure administered by the Rugby Football League. There is no system of automatic promotion and relegation between all five tiers although teams have moved between them in the past. Since ...

. They achieved promotion to the second tier in their first attempt. In May 2019, it was announced Canada would get a second team, Ottawa Aces to begin play in the third tier from 2021.

Domestic competitions

The CRL has also been developing a Canada-based domestic league. In July 2010, St. Catharines Bobcats, based in St. Catharines in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

's Niagara Region, were announced as the league's first domestic team. In September 2010 the Bobcats were joined by a second team, the

Toronto City Saints Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor ...

. The Saints formed a relationship with the St Helens R.F.C. of the Super League. The

Bobcats The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUC ...

and Saints played two games against each other, with players for the national squad being drawn from the two teams. Toronto won both games. In 2011, the CRL announced the domestic competition would expand to four teams in Ontario. St. Catharines Bobcats changed their name to the Niagara Bobcats, while two new clubs from the

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

area were announced. The two new clubs are the York Region Reds, based in

York Region The Regional Municipality of York, also called York Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada, between Lake Simcoe and Toronto. The region was established after the passing of then Bill 102, An Act to Establish The Regional M ...

, and the Scarborough Centurions, based in Toronto's

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

area. York Region has a team partnership with

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

of the Super League, while Scarborough has a partnership with Leigh, who play in the

Co-operative Championship The Championship, known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a professional rugby league competition. It is the second-tier competition organised by the Rugby Football League, the governing body for the sport in England, a ...

. In 2012,

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

commenced a new domestic competition which had 5 teams under the British Columbia Rugby League Competition (BCRL) banner. By the end of 2012, BC had become the premier competition within Canada. In 2013, BCRL expanded to 6 teams namely Bayside Sharks, Kelowna Crows, Richmond Bears, Sea to Sky Eagles, Surrey Beavers and Vancouver Dragons.

Logo

The Canada Rugby League logo, used since 2010, incorporates symbols and imagery of Canada and rugby league football. The CRL designed the logo to be "unique compared to other Canadian sports logos, yet instantly recognisable to the League community". The CRL gives this description of the logo: "Blended with the core rugby league imagery of the ball and twin vee, the CRL logo has been designed to incorporate some very Canadian imagery including an outline of the entire country, and naturally the maple leaf. The colours of red, black and white are also synonymous with the country, and will be prominent on the Canadian national team." In 2015, after a whole new board was put in place, the logo was updated for the 2017 World Cup Qualifiers against Jamaica and the USA, with new sponsors IMPACT Prowear providing the kit. IMPACT Prowear then designed an entire off field range, which was released in collaboration with the CRL for these qualifiers. An entirely new logo was introduced in February 2021 still based on the maple leaf but incorporating the chevrons from the national kit and giving the name in both French and English.

International rugby league

Rugby league's capacity to draw crowds has surprised since the sport's re-establishment in 2010. The national side regularly draws crowds exceeding 5,000 to international matches, with some attendances over 7,000. In comparison, Canadian rugby union, which has been established for many years longer, has only drawn a handful of international attendances over 10,000 since the formalization of the sport's split from

Canadian football Canadian football () is a sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's scoring area ( ...

References

External links