North Wales Crusaders Wheelchair Rugby League & Disability Sports Club are proud to announce a partnership with Brasil Rugby League.
In what is set to be one of the only transatlantic wheelchair rugby league partnerships, the Crusaders will help the development of Wheelchair Rugby League in Brazil ahead of their newly announced national championship this coming December.
The partnership will not only see the Crusaders donated two playing kits to the South American nation but will also see them assist the training and development of wheelchair match officials in the country.
Latin Heat – Rugby League founder Robert Burgin said: “It’s entirely heartening to see such support and enthusiasm for what we are doing from across the Atlantic. There are many boundaries to community sport, particularly in developing nations, and this has removed a fairly significant one. I hope one day we get to play against Wales or in Wales and have the chance to shake hands and give thanks in person.”
Crusaders trustee and Wales head coach Stephen Jones also had his say on the launch of the partnership: “It’s amazing to see our sport branch out and develop into new nations across the world and we at Crusaders are more than happy to help develop people’s knowledge on the sport anyway we can.
“A big thank you to Harry, who’s one of our player coaches for setting up this partnership and a special thank you to Steve Abel of RFL Wheelchair Rugby League who will be helping us in building a team of wheelchair match officials in Brazil and across South America. And a very special thanks goes out to our sponsors Enbarr Enterprises Limted who are assisting us in sending the playing shirts to Brazil.”
Brasil Rugby League CEO, Hugo Fróes said: “The team’s uniform donation comes in line with the 1st Brazilian Rugby League Wheelchair Championship, which will have four teams and will take place in Curitiba in December and will strengthen ties with the success project of the Welsh, aiming for a place at RLWC2025 with our new national team.
“It has been a great challenge since 2017 to be able to offer refereeing courses for Brazilians that were valid for the International Rugby League, our group of volunteers from Australia is mostly coaches and former athletes, who even though they have offered clinics, they are don’t valid for IRL/Asia-Pacific, with the help of the North Wales Crusaders, we will finally be able to have valid courses, which is extremely crucial for the development of the sport in Brasil and for the application for Full Membership that we will do at the end of this year.”