8 replies to this topic

[T-Dub]

Passing through the 'German Nose' again last weekend (a bit of Germany that sicks into Austria) brought back wistful memories of stirrings of the game amongst the majestic Alps of Bad Reichenhall and Salzburgerland from about 6 or 7 years ago.

I guess I might as well direct this at Simon as post on here about it, but how did it end up and what are teh future prospects?

[EdinburghExile]

a bit of Germany that sicks into Austria

Too much Löwenbrau again?

[Lounge Room Lizard]

I no longer have anything to do with RLD since 12 months Tim. I had enough of the RLEF and the lack of respect from certain people like Danny Kazandjian. I invested thousands of Euros and time and got treated badly at the end because Danny had his way of doing things and didnt want me around as I wouldnt agree with how he wanted things to be basically. I got fed up with the attitude of the RLEF and thought why should I spend all that money and time for no thanks or help back. I also got married last year and maybe will move to Northern Germany in the summer where my Family is.

The problem is that Danny Kazandjian wants only 13 a side game to be played in Germany. I disagree and feel the best way to develop in Germany is 9 a side comps like we used to run, as getting a 13 a side team to do a round trip of around 800KM from say Bad Reichenhall to Heidelberg or further up to Cologne area, is just not possible. I could if I had the backing of he RLEF finacially to run a 9s comp in Bavaria and Austria using mainly Union players as I cant get time off work to go into Schools or places of higher education and often not around to run a course during the week. I know many people who would be prepared to help me but dont want to be the driving force so to speak. At the moment the interest that was in Bad Reichenhall, Bayern and Austria has died due to me basically not having the financial and support of the RLEF. I wanted to go on a Coach Educators course so I could help educate Union COaches and players and others but Danny Kazandjian wouldnt allow me because I wanted to run 9 a side and also the Development Officer made a load of promises to run a domestic league etc and wanted to put people from the Heidelberg/Kaiserslautern area through. The Domestic league didnt happen last year and likely wont this year. Only the D.O and one other from Cologne is on the course. The RLEF did run something in Heidelberg this week with 10 Union people. But there is no stand alone League club there and its all based on Union players mainly U18s which is not really development for me.

Germany has a big problem in that the Development work is non existant despite having a Development Officer for the past 3 years. Sadly he refused to work with me and others, when I was at the RLD and he told a host of lies. He also is involved in Union and his focus is not totally on League, which I dont think is right. The National team is strong due to the Heritage players that pay their own way to play. Domestically Germany is way weaker than Malta, Czech Republic, Norway. The US Army who we got interested refuse to be involved because of the Development Officer and so they have gone as have the team where the D.O was last year Hochspeyer who now refuse to have anything to do with Rugby League. Also the English Womens team was badly treated by the D.O when they came across last year and was a joke. This gave a bad outlook on RLD from people looking in. This all has created many problems. At the moment, I dont see much of a future for Germany, as they have no Sponsors, no money and dont have enough committed people willing to push the game. Theres only really a handful of Union players alongside 5 or 6 non union players totalling around 20 players spread from Karlsruhe to Cologne (around 350 Km). Its very sad and makes me angry, but thats where we are at. If things change at te RLEF, then I will come back in but until then I will stay away. Maybe things will change soon for the better but realistically things are not looking good.

Edited by Lounge Room Lizard, 29 February 2012 - 11:54 PM.

[Lounge Room Lizard]

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Edited by Lounge Room Lizard, 29 February 2012 - 11:52 PM.

[Evil Homer]

I could if I had the backing of he RLEF finacially to run a 9s comp in Bavaria and Austria using mainly Union players

With due respect, I can fully understand why Kazandjian and the RLEF weren't keen on this and didn't want to provide financial support. As you say, a bunch of Union players turning out every so often is better than nothing, but it's not really development.

As for the rest of your post, it sounds like Germany just needs to start over from scratch with a new board and a new approach, similar to the Netherlands.

[Lounge Room Lizard]

With due respect, I can fully understand why Kazandjian and the RLEF weren't keen on this and didn't want to provide financial support. As you say, a bunch of Union players turning out every so often is better than nothing, but it's not really development.

As for the rest of your post, it sounds like Germany just needs to start over from scratch with a new board and a new approach, similar to the Netherlands.

But thats exactly whats happening in RLD now but with trying 13 a side. The issue is not about union players. The issue is the RLEF dont want 9 a side being done and refuse to accept it as a development tool in Germany. Germany needs a new board , a new d.o .Also one d.o os simply not enough for Germany as the size of he place makes life so hard. Either do it properly regarding D.o and funding or forget it.

Edited by Lounge Room Lizard, 01 March 2012 - 04:57 AM.

[Evil Homer]

But thats exactly whats happening in RLD now but with trying 13 a side. The issue is not about union players. The issue is the RLEF dont want 9 a side being done and refuse to accept it as a development tool in Germany. Germany needs a new board , a new d.o .Also one d.o os simply not enough for Germany as the size of he place makes life so hard. Either do it properly regarding D.o and funding or forget it.

I think for nations like Germany, the best course of action would be to attempt to develop a small localised competition around a regional base and then build from there. Even in the most established RL nations like Australia and England, the sport remains extremely regionalised, so to expect a nationwide competition straight away in somewhere like Germany is unreasonable. Like you say, at this stage it's always going to be doomed to failure given the distances involved. If there are interested parties in other pockets of the country, then let them develop their own regional competitions (under the same national banner), and then maybe in the future they can come together when the sport is established enough. Trying to run a nationwide competition at this stage would just be stupid, IMO.

Edited by Evil Homer, 01 March 2012 - 09:53 PM.

[Lounge Room Lizard]

I think for nations like Germany, the best course of action would be to attempt to develop a small localised competition around a regional base and then build from there. Even in the most established RL nations like Australia and England, the sport remains extremely regionalised, so to expect a nationwide competition straight away in somewhere like Germany is unreasonable. Like you say, at this stage it's always going to be doomed to failure given the distances involved. If there are interested parties in other pockets of the country, then let them develop their own regional competitions (under the same national banner), and then maybe in the future they can come together when the sport is established enough. Trying to run a nationwide competition at this stage would just be stupid, IMO.

Totally agree with that mate

[IM2]

i think any fledgling league whether in traditional nations or new needs to be regionalised for regular games and nationalised (for want of a better word) for play offs and finals. when we came up with the idea for the RLC this was its strength.