Temmuz 2011

Ragbi'nin "Lippi"si Türkiye'de

Beyzbol, Softbol, Korumalı Futbol, Ragbi Federasyonu'ndan büyük yatırım. Türkiye'ye Ragbi sporunu tanıtmak ve sevdirmek amacıyla büyük adımlar atan federasyon, bu doğrultuda İrlandalı Niall Doherty'yi Türkiye Milli Takımının başına getirdi. Dünyanın en iyi antrenörü olarak kabul edilen, aynı zamanda uluslararası Rabgi Federasyonu Teknik Kurulu üyesi olan Doherty, bugüne kadar 13 ükeyi çalıştırdı. En son Yunanistan'ı çalıştıran İrlandalı antrenör Türk Ragbi Milli Takımını 2016 olimpiyatlarına hazırlayacak. Federasyon başkanı Şahin Kömürcü'nün büyük çabaları sonucunda tecrübeli antrenör Türkiye'ye evet dedi.

Koşar, "Beklentilerimiz Yüksek"

Federasyon Asbaşkanı Salim Koşar'ın ofisinde düzenlenen imza töreninde, İrlandalı antrenörden beklentilerin çok yüksek olduğu belirtildi. Kendisine çok güvendiklerini belirten Koşar, "En büyük hedefimiz 2016 Olimipiyatları'na Ragbi Milli Takımımızı götürmek. Bunun için büyük bir ekip çalışması yapıyoruz. Bu doğrultuda dünyanın en iyi antrenörünü Milli Takımımızın başına getirdik. Ragbide henüz yeniyiz ancak hocamızın da katkılarıyla kısa zamanda ismimizden söz ettireceğiz." diye konuştu.

Kaynak: Türkiye'nin Spor Dergisi

The Kuşadası Eagles are delighted that Mr. Doherty wore one of our team's shirts for the signing ceremony!

June 2011

Rugby Football in Turkey

In consultation with the Turkish Olympic Committee and rugby football clubs in Turkey, the Turkish government have approved the creation of a separate Rugby Federation under the Sports Ministry umbrella. The President of the Rugby Federation is Mr. Şhain.

Rugby football is to be an exhibition sport in the London Olympics in 2012 and a competitive sport in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 at the 7-a-side level. The Federation has appointed an Irishman, Mr. Niall Doherty, as national coach for rugby in Turkey. He formerly coached the Greek national team to success, and they are now members of F.I.R.A. (the European rugby organisation). Mr. Doherty's mandate is to establish rugby football on a permanent basis in Turkey. He is currently visiting Kuşadası to help the local club, Kuşadası Kartallar Rugby Club, in achieving this aim. Extensive enrolment of local men and women is being planned so that 7-a-side teams will be coached by qualified Turkish coaches with the assistance of the expatriate rugby playing community.

Rugby clubs in Istanbul, Ankara, Samsun, and Edirne are already established, and plans are in hand to extend the club structure to places including Aydın, Bodrum, Koçaeli, Afyon, Bartın, and Eskişehir, using the school and university sports structure that already exists.

Rugby football is a physical contact sport and is played in more than 120 countries worldwide. It should not be confused with American football, which took the idea from rugby. While the 15-a-side game can be confusing to the uninitiated, the 7-a-side game is a simplified, exciting game and is easily understood.

Plans include Turkey hosting some international rugby matches, and while Georgia may prove too strong for them initially, matches against Azerbaijan or Greece would be a fair judge of the standard required for Turkey to join F.I.R.A. and the I.R.B. (International Rugby Board) countries. The top I.R.B. countries are New Zealand, Australian, South Africa, Ireland, France, England, Argentina, Scotland, Wales, Italy and Romania.

More updates to follow in next month's edition, with special mention of the Rugby World Cup, which takes place in New Zealand in September/October this year.

Written to appear in an upcoming edition of The Ege Eye

May 2011

Sports News

The Director of Rugby in Turkey, Niall Doherty paid a visit to Kuşadası recently to meet with the committee and players of the Kuşadası rugby team.

Niall was here to promote and develop rugby in Turkey.

He hopes to set up league structures and organize coaching and referee courses in the near future.

Niall's work, apart from coaching the national team, will be to establish more clubs throughout the country.

Niall also hopes to start 15 a side rugby league matches starting from October to March and 7 a side matches from next March.

From next summer the rugby organisation also hope to start a beach rugby season.

For any more information regarding the rugby club, please feel free to contact us at The Ege Eye or alternatively you can log onto their website at http://www.rugby-kusadasi.com.

You can also follow them on Twitter at "KusadasiEagles".

The Ege Eye, Issue 90: June 2011

The Kuşadası Eagles would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Niall on his recent appointment as Director of Rugby and to thank him for his support.

May 2011

Dinner Dance Attracts the Expats

The committee, supports and friends of the local rugby Team, the Kuşadası Kartallar, gathered together recently for another fundraising night at the Sözer Hotel.

Following a buffet dinner, the entertainment kicked off with Kirsty Jackson, a professional singer from Stoke-On-Trent.

Kirsty, who has appeared on International TV, sang a variety of songs old and new, and she certainly got the party started. The evening also included a door prize and several prizes in the raffle draw.

Rugby is still a relatively new sport in Turkey but is gaining in popularity as more Turks begin to understand the game.

Somet Mutlu, one of the club's new players, spoke to us about his love of the game. He had never heard of the game before a friend brought him along to a training session; now he says rugby is his favorite sport.

The rugby club hope to buy Somet contact lenses, as he needs to wear glasses and obviously can't wear them on the pitch, so any nice optician who might like to sponsor Somet or his team mates, please contact the rugby club or us here at the Ege Eye.

The next rugby club fund raising night will be held in July, and everyone is more than welcome to attend.

Keep your eye on our Facebook page for date and location.

The Ege Eye, Issue 90: June 2011

January 2011

Special Guest for Rugby Club's Dinner Dance

On Saturday the 11th of December, the Kuşadası Rugby club held their annual Christmas Dinner Dance, but this year a special guest came along for the celebrations too.

This year, the club's 3rd year at running the dinner dances, Kuşadası's Mayor M. Esat Altungün and his wife Sebahat attended the party held at the Sozer Hotel.

As the speeches were given, the Mayor stood up and thanked all those for inviting him and his wife and everyone who has helped withthe club. M. Esat Altungün also said he had enjoyed his night with everybody and thanked those for making it a good one; he gave his full support to the club.

The evening, which was attended by Europeans and Turkish party-goers, was a mixed event with food, live music and awards.

The Rugby Club itself was started around 3 years ago by expats who wanted to teach the Turkish locals how to play rugby the English way.

The manager of the club, Kiernan Gormly, said that he has thoroughly enjoyed teaching the Turkish how to play rugby and the history behind it. He added that clubs in Istanbul, Izmire and Ankara now want to make professional clubs as good as Kuşadasıs.

If you would like more information on the Kuşadası Rugby Club, log onto their website at www.rugby-kusadasi.com.

The Ege Eye, Issue 85: January 2011