How totalrl.com and us Keyboard warriors could help develop this game.

[B rad]

TLDR : We should use raffles and other fundraisers for developing nations on this site.

 

So let me run a few hypothetical questions past you.

Lets say next month the Welsh Rugby League picked out a all star Welsh team and had guys like Jonathan Davis, Kieron Cunningham, Lee Briers,  Iestyn Harris signing a Welsh Rugby League jersey. Then ran a raffle with the proceeds going toward a schoolboys tour to Australia. Of course the raffle would have to be endorsed and run by the RLIF, so we knew the money wasn't going to some scammer somewhere to pay for his university fees in conjunction with totalrl.com with who you could purchase the tickets through their site. Would you buy a ticket? Would you take a flyer down to the local Rugby League clubs so others could log onto the site and buy tickets? Would you approach local business's like subway for example and ask them if they would make $2 subways available to the touring group should they promote them on their jersey sleave if the tour was going toward your town?

Probably no where else is there a group of people so congregated who discuss and are concerned and are so passionate with international development then on this site. We sit there we say what if they did this or what if they did that, if only they could and the answer usually is "yeah, but who will pay for it? so no it isn't going to happen".  So why not fundraise? Put our money where our mouth is, buy a $10 ticket to help a developing nation somewhere, more if we feel inclined.

My father recently raised over $10 000 for a speaking event for his surf club. Allan Langer was the speaker, and they raffled some football jerseys signed by state of origin football players. That was done in a much smaller circle of people then those connected to this site. As a kid our school Rugby team toured New Zealand. We played 6 different teams over two weeks. Our marching band went to the Calgary Stampede in Canada and won the competition, all this is possible through fundraising raffles and events. So us keyboard warriors and our gracious host totalrl.com could make a difference if we were organised and motivated to do so.

My suggestion would be every month totalrl.com run a different promotion with the RLIF. Schoolboy tours would be a great start. What better way to encourage kids to take up our game then to reward them with a international tour should they put in the hard yards and perform.  In a place like Ireland, South Africa for example where RU is big, we could entice teenagers to try out RL. There is the big fish in a little pond train of thought. "hey kid your a good Rugby Player but so are a couple of hundred other kids playing RU in this country, why not try out RL where the talent pool isn't so thick and you might end up going to the Gold Coast next year with the national team". The same tactic might work with American or Canadian high school athletes as well.  

We could forge connections with NRL clubs. Brian Carney would be a great guy to help out the Irish fundraise enough for a schoolboy team to go down and tour in Newcastle his old Australian club. There are plenty of connections there, we just need to connect the dots and talk to the right people. When I say we, not us no name keyboard warriors, I mean the RLIF. People organisations and individuals might listen too.

I could go on and on. We could raise money for a Philippines club to buy some land for a oval or a gym. Its not as unimaginable as it seems, Australian money goes a lot further in a place like that. When I visited my fiancé there 5 years a go I bought her family a fridge and washing machine. I didn't spend over $80 Australian, of course our dollar was worth a lot more back then. A little bit of our money can buy a lot in a place like that.  

So I put it to you guys, totalrl.com and the RLIF. Anyone with fundraising experience, anyone with a bit of passion for rugby league development, anyone that would like to do something instead of talk about what could be done all day. Is this an idea and worth looking into?

P.S. Id make a poll but I'm too much of a computer noob to know how too.

[Big Picture]

What a great idea, I love it!  Absolutely I would buy a raffle ticket to support Welsh RL.  The only reason I'm not involved in the Canadian RL is being a bit removed from where they're active and my age which makes me wonder what I could contribute now.

[langpark]

I think this almost comes under the category of 'crowd-funding', which has become a very saturated market, so makes it very hard now for anyone attempting it.

I think this idea has one major flaw, the Welsh RL jersey.  I'm not being cheeky, I'm just saying, it has limited appeal to those of us that are not Welsh.  If you could get, say a random NRL club jersey or something, I think it would have a much broader appeal.  Then, for your local Welsh fans, perhaps you can offer the jersey.

[B rad]

4 hours ago, langpark said:

I think this almost comes under the category of 'crowd-funding', which has become a very saturated market, so makes it very hard now for anyone attempting it.

I think this idea has one major flaw, the Welsh RL jersey.  I'm not being cheeky, I'm just saying, it has limited appeal to those of us that are not Welsh.  If you could get, say a random NRL club jersey or something, I think it would have a much broader appeal.  Then, for your local Welsh fans, perhaps you can offer the jersey.

Of course it would be a different product up for raffle depending on what team/league/area you were trying to raise support for. PNG schoolboys tour to North QLD might be a signed cowboys jersey, etc etc etc. Depending on what the promotion was that month. Wales was an example, Id buy a ticket not cause I wanted the Jersey so much, more because I wanted to support development and donate my 10 bucks. Of course there might be times where I said to my self DAMN I WANT THAT, and maybe buy hard on the tickets that month.

Serf Life Saving clubs manage to get cars and houses sometimes. Don't know how but that Id think would appeal to a fair few people. A lot of what is up for competitions like that I guess depends who knows a guy who knows a guy that can get something. If the RLIF were running it then it would depend on what they could give away, World Cup tickets for example.

[Pulga]

I think focusing on developing nations where our coin will go a long way is a good idea.

[JM2010]

I think another way we could help is by promoting local junior clubs. Maybe even try and convince people to take their children down to play at the local club

[B rad]

On ‎5‎/‎22‎/‎2017 at 2:24 PM, Pulga said:

I think focusing on developing nations where our coin will go a long way is a good idea.

Do you mean developing nations or the rugby league developing nations?

I assume you need the former, there are quite a few places where the Australian and English dollar would go along way. Philippines as I already mentioned, and most pacific nations.

[Pulga]

On 5/24/2017 at 5:26 AM, B rad said:

Do you mean developing nations or the rugby league developing nations?

I assume you need the former, there are quite a few places where the Australian and English dollar would go along way. Philippines as I already mentioned, and most pacific nations.

Both really.

 

A fair few Asian countries, Central and South America, Africa, all places our dollars would go far.

[Yorkie44]

What a fantastic idea, I for one would definitely partake.

In a similar vein York & District are touring Ukraine in a couple of weeks to help promote the game there. We are all also planning to take some old shirts etc. to give to the local players which obviously over there they struggle to get and will help promote our great game. 

[B rad]

On ‎5‎/‎25‎/‎2017 at 10:21 AM, Pulga said:

Both really.

 

A fair few Asian countries, Central and South America, Africa, all places our dollars would go far.

Yep. Not a lot of thought goes into the Asian nations. Thailand and the Philippines have played an Asian Cup for awhile, 2000 people showed up in San Narciso. Wonder if China would be an option. Japan Id rule out because any good players would be poached by the RU.

[Derwent]

I think the fact you've had responses from just 5 other people has answered your question !

[B rad]

13 hours ago, Derwent said:

I think the fact you've had responses from just 5 other people has answered your question !

Probably.

[Bob8]

I have a very boring task, should it be of interest?

One of our troubles in places like Denmark is finding existing rugby league fans.  One way to find potential fans is to do a Facebook search for people in Denmark who are from 'Sydney', 'Brisbane', 'Illiwara', 'Wigan', 'St Helens', Hull.

It is a wealthy country, so we are certainly not seeking money.  That would be far better sent to where it will go further.  But we are looking to grow and finding people who are fans and want to help the game grow in Denmark would be invaluable to us.

Copenhagen RLFC had their relaunch party last weekend.  This Saturday we will enter the Lund 9's, it will be the first Copenhagen RLFC side to compete since 2014.

[B rad]

13 hours ago, Bob8 said:

I have a very boring task, should it be of interest?

One of our troubles in places like Denmark is finding existing rugby league fans.  One way to find potential fans is to do a Facebook search for people in Denmark who are from 'Sydney', 'Brisbane', 'Illiwara', 'Wigan', 'St Helens', Hull.

It is a wealthy country, so we are certainly not seeking money.  That would be far better sent to where it will go further.  But we are looking to grow and finding people who are fans and want to help the game grow in Denmark would be invaluable to us.

Copenhagen RLFC had their relaunch party last weekend.  This Saturday we will enter the Lund 9's, it will be the first Copenhagen RLFC side to compete since 2014.

I'm not on Facebook or Twitter since I am an internet caveman. Maybe you could send out some tweets.

[Bob8]

5 hours ago, B rad said:

I'm not on Facebook or Twitter since I am an internet caveman. Maybe you could send out some tweets.

Indeed.  We have two Twitter accounts with 1K+ and 2K+ followers.  The challenge is finding people who might not think to look for us on Twitter or Facebook.