Aspen to host U.S. Rugby Super League Championship game

The picturesque Colorado ski resort town of Aspen will be the venue for this year's U.S. Rugby Super League Championship game.

The final will be played on Saturday, June 8th and will be hosted by the reigning Super League champions, the Gentlemen of Aspen.

The decision was ratified by the League at its winter meeting in Las Vegas.

Super League chairman Keith Engelbrecht said that there had been a tremendous response to the League's call for bids to host the 2002 championship final, "We were thrilled with the sheer volume of replies we got from clubs all over America that wanted to host our final.

"Among the clubs that expressed an interest were Philadelphia-Whitemarsh, Boston Irish Wolfhounds, Charlotte RFC, Indianapolis RFC, Rockford Ravens and Aspen. It was a tough choice, but in the end the League's executive committee went with Aspen because we felt that as the defending RSL champs, the Gents had earned the right to host our season finale."

Engelbrecht added that this year's championship game will be slightly different from those of past seasons in so much as there will be additional events and activities scheduled around the big game itself.

The idea is to make the Super Match more appealing and to create an atmosphere of a true rugby festival.

Aspen manager Andy Saltonstall noted that because it is a national championship, the game should be the center of a big weekend, "It should be watched by a lot of people and Aspen attracts good crowds, even on a rainy day. People in Aspen know their rugby and turn out to watch it in numbers.

"We're considering staging a curtain-raiser, a golf tournament on the Friday and maybe even a banquet with some overseas players as guest speakers."

At its Las Vegas meeting the Super League also approved the names for its newly formatted conferences. The three new conferences will be known as Red, White and Blue.

The 2002 season is scheduled to kick off on March 16th.