Canada and England have been announced as the latest hosts for the IRB Women’s Sevens World Series. 

Langford in British Columbia will welcome the women’s competition to its shores as it hosts round four of the series on April 18-19, 2015 at the Westhills Stadium, Langford, British Columbia. The penultimate round of the series visits London where the action comes to the Twickenham Stoop on the same weekend as the men’s HSBC Sevens World Series.

In keeping with the last two seasons, the 2014/15 series will kick off in 7he Sevens Stadium in Dubai on December 4 and 5 alongside the men’s series.

With the Road to Rio getting even shorter, the women’s series will again return to Brazil just over a year out from the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Sao Paulo will play host to the event on February 7 and 8.

Teams will travel to the United States the following month where Atlanta will host round three of the tournament in Kennesaw State University on March 14 and 15.

With their women’s sevens side now a consistent feature at the top end of the women’s standings, Canada will welcome the series to Langford on April 18 and 19.

The last two rounds of the series will be contested in Europe with London hosting the fifth round at the Twickenham Stoop, with the final to be played next door in front of massive crowds at Twickenham Stadium.

Like last season, the series will conclude in the Netherlands as part of the Amsterdam Sevens.

IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset said: “The level of competition in the Women’s Sevens World Series is at an all-time high, and has been helped by the prospect of taking part in the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016.”

“We now have Canada and London added to the bill for the coming season and given the appetite for quality Rugby and the Sevens Game, I have no doubt that they will be excellent hosts when they welcome the women’s series to their shores next year.”

Surrey Sports Park in partnership with London United Basketball Club have become the owners of the Surrey British Basketball League (BBL) franchise which will now be known as Surrey United.

The former Surrey Heat will continue to play their home games at Surrey Sports Park.

Paul Blanchard of Surrey Sports Parks said of the new venture: “We are excited to be part of this new partnership which has secured the long-term stability of a professional BBL team in Surrey.

“Surrey has some of the most passionate basketball fans in the country and we hope they will unite behind this new franchise and continue to support the long history of top-level basketball in the county.”

Emma Chambers of London United Basketball Club said: “The project is limitless and there are so many factors that can make us successful. We want to create a programme which provides the dedicated Surrey fans with a competitive BBL team consisting of exciting talent, recipe but also by engaging with the community and building strong foundations to develop young talent in the Surrey area. We are completely committed to building a long term sustainable project benefiting from stable partnerships with academic institutions and Surrey Sports Park. We are fully aware of the passionate following of basketball in the Surrey area and hope to give much needed security to the Surrey fans and community.”

Andy Webb Chief Operating Officer of the BBL confirmed the change, “The BBL believes the franchise has been strengthened by the changes and we look forward to working with the new Board. There is a significant opportunity for the increased growth of basketball in the Surrey area, and we believe the additional resources this transaction enables will help make that happen.”

 

It was an event that lived up to the title of ‘Best in the World’ as Soccerex hosted an exclusive debate, price where the former Chairman of the Local Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games London 2012, look Sebastian Coe and Brazilian football legend Carlos Alberto Torres came together to discuss the Olympics in London and in Rio, ed football and the golden moments of their careers at the Windsor Hotel, in the borough of Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro on 19^th November.

In what was the first meeting between the two-time Olympic gold medallist and the 1970 FIFA World Cup^TM winning Captain, the two sporting legends shared their thoughts on a variety of social and sporting issues; speaking passionately on the power of sport and the key role it plays within society, focusing particularly on how the 2016 Rio Games would inspire a Brazilian generation, like that of the 2012 London Games. During the discussion Lord Coe also raised an important lesson on how to inspire youngsters through athletics by learning from football’s team sports ethics and values.

With a week to go before the Soccerex Global Convention, the world’s leading football business event, returns to Rio for the third year running, Lord Coe and Carlos’s discussion naturally turned to football and in particular, Olympic football. Although the newly appointed Chairman of the British Olympic Association agreed that Team GB’s football performance at the Olympics wasn’t successful on the pitch, the sold-out stadiums across the country and the interest from fans was judged as a huge success and a key lesson for the 2016 LOC. Being a lifelong Chelsea supporter, Lord Coe also highlighted the special connection between the club and Brazil, with a number of key Brazilians now playing for the West London side, as well as expressing his desire for Brazilian superstar Neymar to join them at Stamford Bridge. Concentrating on matters on the pitch, Carlos Alberto Torres raised the idea of making Olympic football an U-21 tournament to increase the level of excitement and experience for younger players.  He also highlighted the link between Chelsea and Brazil and said he will be closely following the FIFA Club World Cup match between Chelsea and Corinthians in Japan.

Having two iconic global sports stars in the same room, for the first time, attracted a large international media presence, with the BBC, Lance!, SporTV, Globo, Terra and Folha de São Paulo all present. In what was a special moment between the two men, Carlos presented Lord Coe with a personally signed Carlos Alberto number 4 shirt and the iconic golden Soccerex ball to mark the friendship between them.

Pictures of this exclusive event can be found at www.actionimages.com using the following details:

Login Name : GlobalConvention2012
Password : Rio2012

 

The NFL is growing well in China but will not hold a game in the country until its fan base hits tipping point, according to NFL China Managing Director, Richard Young.

Young said the NFL missed opportunities because it was slow to focus on China but he is content with the rise in popularity of the sport throughout major Chinese cities.

“We’re not going down the same old route the way some people still do, they look at 1.38 billion people and say, ‘If we could just get 5 percent’,” Young said. “When people follow that strategy it’s all gone.

“A lot of people try to make very homogenous maxims about China all the time, but we don’t believe there’s a cultural reason as to why American football is more popular in the United States than it is overseas.

“It’s just that we haven’t been very active, have not been proactive, in developing it overseas and particularly in China.

“What would we do differently? Start earlier, that’s the number one thing.”

Several US and European leagues and teams have held games in China, but Young said there were no immediate plans for the NFL to do so.

The NFL cancelled an exhibition game between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks in 2007 because China was not ready for the sport and the league’s international expansion was instead focused on London.

“Until our fan base is at a level where it can truly support itself, and there is additional demand for more, I’m not supportive of holding a game here,” said Young.

“Wembley sells out in three hours -that’s the NFL. Having empty seats and saying, ‘Oh we still have tickets left’ – that’s not the NFL.

“We’re not going after everyone, we’re going after the rural areas, we’re concentrating on 19 major cities, we know we have a tipping point of 38 million.

“We’re very much more Louis Vuitton than the Gap. We’re focusing on a smaller group of people and until that base is large enough we don’t want to damage our brand equity.”

Unlike the NBA, which has been able to flourish in China due to the country’s long-established basketball structure, the NFL is starting from scratch.

The NFL faces a number of challenges in growing the sport including educating people about what is often considered a complex game and generating enthusiasm about a sport that is not included in the Olympics.

“In developing countries, not unique to China, they see sports primarily through ethnic and national pride,” he said.

Figures related to NFL growth are positive, however, particularly in social media and online streaming.

More than 1 million people in China watched the Super Bowl online last season, while cumulative television viewership jumped from 48 million to 80 million across China.

Nike will begin selling NFL apparel in its stores on November 16.

“Most people in China don’t know what a quarterback does, but our research shows they recognize the NFL shield and the NFL brand quite well, actually a lot better than most people think and a lot higher than many leagues who are also in China.

“They know that it is quality and they know that it has stature in the United States, which carries a lot of weight here, so we don’t want to do anything just to tick a box.

“Holding a game in China just to say that we did it is not part of our plans.”{jcomments on}