Today I continue with the second part of the Russian Rugby League story and look to at how they are looking to grow the sport from the turmoil of 2008 and also how, if anyone wants to help them out and get in touch with them, can do so.
With Russia having lost its benefactor and also its status in the sports ministry, it has meant that the financial resources have been very tight. However this means that new ways of finding the money to exist can be explored. The Russians have decided to take the approach of learning to fish, rather than just be given fish.
Russia has plans to tour this year out to Canada and possibly the United States while they will also be forming a dedicated Rugby League 9s Squad with the intention to have it tour the European 9s circuit. Russian will also be playing in the newly expanded and revamped European Shield tournament with Serbia, Italy and Germany also involved. This obviously means heavy financial backing and the Russian Rugby League are starting to sound out potential partners to finance these ventures. The RRL are looking to use their experience in Russian business to help new potential companies and businesses that want to establish themselves in Russia a way into the market. Thus the RRL is setting up a Business Introduction Service for all those who are involved with RL around the world. This service will keep companies abreast of political and market forces allowing companies to react quickly and instigate any change needed before any serious damage can be done to the companies profits. With this they would use sponsorship and payment to finance the sport. They are particularly looking to crate links with Asia and are looking to contact and make links with the new fledgling Asian Rugby League nations like Singapore, Thailand, India and Japan.
On the player front Russia is looking to expand its talent pool. Their recent World Cup Qualification campaign saw them take on the Italians, Serbians and Lebanese in the European group, and while defeating the Serbians, Russia with a fully domestic squad were easy picking for Italy’s and Lebanon’s heritage stacked teams.
This has forced the Russians to look to expand their search for players. They now are looking for heritage players that can play for them in the European Shield and also in the next World Cup Qualifiers and to compliment them they want to have their local players get more experience. Their online campaign of promotion has started to yield some results with Talent Scouts in Life Arena Sports starting to show interest in their players, who knows the potential for a couple to go out to Australia could be there. Two of their players were also invited by the RLEFs Eastern coordinator Julia Benison to play for 8 months at the Sharlston Rovers.
In the last week John Slade, who also is president of the Estonia Rugby League Federation, has also been brought onto the RRL board as their International Development Officer. John is looking to get more of the Russian Players to be placed within Clubs in Europe to gain more experience for the national competition and national team.
On top of this, recent developments between the Newcastle Knight in Australia and Fiji, by looking to establish an academy have also inspired the Russians to look to do something similar. They have contacted NRL and ESL clubs, but with no response yet.
The RLEF, though with limited resources have been able to help out a bit. During the 2011 World Cup qualifiers the Russians received the Accelerator Money to help develop their domestic players while the Head Coaches Stuart Wilkinson and John Stankevitch had their airfares and expenses covered by the RLEF. The RLEF also payed for 2 of Russia’s regional representatives Victor Krayev and Vladimir Kushnirchuk for a year to help develop the sport in the centre and south regions.
So with this, the way Russia is trying to generate outside and inside interest to help get the sport back on its feet financially. With planned Test Matches, the World Cup Qualifiers, Domestic competitions, PR and advertising, videos, TV, website, facebook and twitter campaigns as well as merchandising it is hoped that this will usher in a new era of Rugby League in Russia and finally help it establish a major presence in the Rugby League world. Anyone that is interested in helping out the Russian Rugby League, or want to get more information you can contact Victor Sapozhnikov on vvs.54@mail.ru and also jump on the Russian Rugby League website http://www.rrlf.ru .
With all this it looks like there is a new dawn for Russian Rugby League and the rise of the sport in Eastern Europe once more.
The Russian Rugby league is searching for sponsors to become an important part in the development of rugby league in Russia. There is a great opportunity to become the major sponsor of the Russian Rugby League team which will include sponsorship details featuring on the new Russian national team uniform.
As the major sponsor, you will not only gain the luxury of being the Russian Rugby League national team main jersey sponsor, but will also benefit from:
Due to the short time frame required for the sponsor logos to be included on the Russian Rugby League team uniform, all reasonable sponsorship offers will be considered.
Russian Rugby League has a number of sponsorship opportunities available, so if you would like to find out more about our existing sponsorship proposals please contact us: taturyan38@mail.ru
Edgard A. Taturyan, President
http://rrlf.ru
http://rrlf.ru/priglashenie_k_sponsorstvu
http://www.rrlf.ru/sbornaya_rossii_2011
http://www.rlef.eu.com/russia/introduction
http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/vereyabears/
http://www.rc-vereya.ru
http://www.rc-vereya.ru/video
http://www.rc-vereya.ru/vereyabarlafoto
http://www.rc-vereya.ru/game_l
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Te23TvMsQc&feature=player_embedded#!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bIP4fU_TQI&feature=player_embedded
Sponsorship Proposal
Title Sponsor: Package: 16,000,000 rubles (400,000 euro)
Russian National Team Title Sponsor: 6,000,000 rubles (150,000 euro)
“Association of Rugby League Clubs”(ARLC) Title Sponsor: 10,000,000 rubles (250,000 euro)
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