The Rhode Island Rebellion were an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

semi-professional Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a conside ...

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 112 ...

football team based in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

. The Rebellion compete in 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), which they joined as a charter franchise in the 2011 season.

History

The club was established in 2011 by Lawrence Almagno, Alex DeCiccio, and Anthony Nardolillo, as a charter member of the

. Together with

Oneida FC Oneida FC (Oneida Football Club) is a soccer club based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The organisation was estabished in 2011 and plays its home games at East Boston Memorial Stadium, owned by the city of Boston. The field also hosts American footb ...

and the New Jersey Turnpike Titans, they were one of three new teams to join the USARL, which was formed by clubs that had broken with the established

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 USARL had originally intended to establish a team in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, sponsored by Kodiak Capital Group, and named Kodiak Rugby. Almagno, a Kodiak employee, was one of the planners charged with setting up the team, but the group was unable to find a suitable venue in New York. Thereafter Almagano just having moved back to Rhode Island contacted DeCiccio in order to determine if Rhode Island had a large enough player pool to form a new team. After the first team meeting, Nardolillio joined Almagno and DeCiccio to assist in the task of bringing the team to

. The move gave the USARL four teams in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

. Almagno, who had experience playing both

and

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

, got together with former teammates DeCiccio and Nardolillo to recruit players. After initial difficulty finding players, they were able to recruit a full roster in time for the inaugural

2011 USARL season The 2011 USARL season was the inaugural season of the USA Rugby League (USARL). The league was formed in January 2011 as a breakaway competition from the American National Rugby League (AMNRL). The regular season kicked off on June 4 and ended on J ...

. They achieved their first win of the season in game four against the New Jersey Turnpike Titans. During their inaugural season the Rebellion attracted around 300 fans a game and was able to cover its expenses. In 2014, with the growth of the USARL, the club was moved into the North East Division.

Youth development

The club run the American Youth Rugby League Association’s Providence High School Rugby League Competition in Rhode Island that involves 1,000 middle school students. Alongside the Boston 13s, a four team U23 competition is also run in the Massachusetts and Rhode Island regions.

International representatives

In 2015 Shain Singleton represented the

United States national rugby league team The United States national rugby league team represents the United States in international rugby league football competitions. The team is managed by the USA Rugby League (USARL). The United States competed with little success in some interna ...

USA Hawks in a match against Canada rugby league during game 2 of the Colonial Cup where 2 tries were scored directly off of his attacking kicks. In 2015 Jonathan St. John represented the United States Pioneers in a match against the Leeds Rhinos.

Season summaries

References

External links