The Ontario Rugby League is excited to announce that it will be hosting its first-ever ORL 9s Tournament this coming August. Additionally, the ORL will be selecting a provincial competitive side to represent the province in this tournament for both the men’s and women’s sides.
The ORL plans to encourage other provinces to send select teams to this tournament, as well as invite local Rugby Union clubs to submit teams to try rugby league and help grow the game. Finally, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Ben Skinner hopes to create an all-Indigenous team to also compete in this tournament. We will be announcing an official call for coaching staff for the Ontario Selects very shortly – please contact us if you are interested in this opportunity. Additionally, teams or groups that would like to enter the tournament are encouraged to contact us as well. Final details for the tournament, which will occur in late August or early September, will be released in the upcoming weeks.
The first annual ORL 9’s Tournament will be an integral part of the selection process for the Eastern Canadian Team, which will be competing in the historic East verses West game this year in the fall against the Western Canadian Team.
Selections for the Ontario select team, as well as preparation for tournament overall, will be dependent on domestic level competition; that’s right folks! ORL season matches on Sundays will act as trial matches for the selection of these athletes. Trainings hosted by the clubs on Wednesdays are intended to aid athletes in preparing for these trial matches by teaching the basics of rugby league and improving game sense for this exciting sport.
If any of these opportunities are of interest to you, please register for the ORL season and get started! Club trainings are currently on the calendar and will be updated on a weekly basis by Tuesday at the latest, and the game schedule is already finalized and posted. We hope to see an increase of numbers over the next couple weeks to make our selections for the Ontario Selects so we can field a strong provincial representative side. The ORL is very much looking forward to providing this opportunity for our constituents. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us through our contact form or email ontariorugbyleague@gmail.com with your inquiry.
Finally, the ORL will be seeking out sponsors for this historic tournament to support the grassroots growth of rugby league. If you or your business is interested in sponsoring this event, please contact us and we will reach out to you with sponsorship package options.
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