Central Luzon Crusaders

Central Luzon Crusaders
Club information
Founded	2013
Current details
Competition	Philippines National Rugby League Championship

Last updated November 10, 2019

The Central Luzon Crusaders is a Philippine rugby league team based in Indang, Cavite. They play in the Philippines National Rugby League Championship.

Cavite is a province in the Philippines located on the southern shores of Manila Bay in the Calabarzon region on Luzon island. Situated 21 kilometers (13 mi) southwest of Metro Manila, it is one of the most industrialized and fastest growing provinces in the Philippines. Its population of 3,678,301 (2015) makes it one of the most populated provinces in the country.

History

The Central Luzon Crusaders was established in 2013 as the Indang Rebels. The rugby league team was established by expatriate students from Papua New Guinea attending higher education institutions in the Philippines.^[1] For three years the Rebels competed at the annual Papua New Guinea Independence day competition at the Adventist University of the Philippines.^[2]

Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea is a sovereign state in Oceania that occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and its offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean north of Australia. Its capital, located along its southeastern coast, is Port Moresby. The western half of New Guinea forms the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua. It is the world's 3rd largest island country with 462,840 km² (178,700 sq mi).

The Adventist University of the Philippines is a private coeducational Christian university located in Puting Kahoy, Silang, Cavite, Philippines. The university is affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church and holds an autonomous status recognized by the CHED . It is a part of the Seventh-day Adventist education system, the world's second largest Christian school system.

In late 2015, Marc Leabres contacted, four out of the six teams, the Indang Rebels, PerSouth Brothers, Recto Royals, and the United Vikings which were participating at the PNG Independence day tournaments looking for a team to sponsor to be part of the Philippines National Rugby League Championship. Leabres is a Filipino-Australian who works as a "performance analyst" with the Cronulla Sharks of the NRL looking to develop rugby league in the Philippines. Only the Indang Rebels responded to Leabres' offer^[2]

The name of the team was changed to "Central Luzon Crusaders" by Leabres as a homage to his family's home region of Central Luzon and the Clark City Crusaders, a Filipino-Australian team he played for at the Zambalez 9's which was organized by the Philippines National Rugby League. Asa Gorden one of the founding Papuan New Guinean students remarked that the "Rebels" name had "nothing special" and was satisfied of the prospect of joining the national rugby league and promoting the sport in the country.^[2]

Central Luzon, designated as Region III, is an administrative region in the Philippines, primarily serving to organize the 7 provinces of the vast central plains of the island of Luzon, for administrative convenience. The region contains the largest plain in the country and produces most of the country's rice supply, earning itself the nickname "Rice Granary of the Philippines". Its provinces are: Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales.

The team will participate at the finals of the 2016 Philippines National Rugby League Championship.^[1]

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References

1 2 "PNG students make Filipino finals". The National. 3 March 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
1 2 3 "Central Luzon Crusaders the final team in the Philippines inaugural Rugby League Season". Rugby League Planet. 2 March 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2016.

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[national-1] 1 2 "PNG students make Filipino finals". The National. 3 March 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2016.

[rugbyleagueplanet-2] 1 2 3 "Central Luzon Crusaders the final team in the Philippines inaugural Rugby League Season". Rugby League Planet. 2 March 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2016.