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The Latin Heat Rugby League is an Australian-based rugby league team focused on providing people of Central and South American residency or heritage a chance to play international rugby league and also help kick-start competitions in each individual Central and South American nation. ==History== The main individual who founded the Latin Heat team was Robert Burgin. While travelling around South America in 2012, he showed rugby league videos to local Brazilians who seemed intrigued with the sport. From there he came up with the idea of South Americans becoming involved in rugby league. The next year (2013), back in Australia, he started looking for individuals and sponsors to get interested in a South American rugby league team. After months of organising, the Latin Heat name and logo was decided on and they also secured numerous sponsors such as Guzman y Gomez, Rumba Latina and Gringo Magazine. The Latin Heat made their debut in a small suburban 9s tournament in Brisbane on 21 September 2013. The squad included a lot of non-Latin players; however, six players who played in the tournament were of Latin/Central and South American origin. The Latin Heat experienced their first international match on the Gold Coast on 18 January 2014. They lost to the Philippines 114-0; however, this was their first full-blooded 13-a-side match and the full 17 players were of Latin American heritage. They then entered the Cabramatta International Nines in Sydney on 2 February 2014. Former USA Tomahawk and 2013 World Cup participant Kristian Freed was a guest player for the Latin Heat squad in the tournament. After losses to the Philippines and Portugal, they recorded their first international victory against Japan 22-8. They were eliminated, however, against the Greek national side 18-0 in the quarterfinals. Their most recent international match was against the Thailand Stars, which ended in a 16-all draw after prop Jonathan Espinoza missed a penalty goal from in front at Windsor Sporting Complex in front of a 500-strong crowd. Ernie Tobar became the head coach of the team for the Thailand fixture. The Latin Heat have not only improved on the field, but have improved their profile in the public as well. They have appeared in various newspapers and news websites in Sydney and Brisbane and also on the NRL, Fox Sports and Courier Mail websites. One Latin Heat player (Brandon Tobar) won Try of the Week on Channel 9's ''The Footy Show'' while playing for Penrith Juniors. More players of Latin heritage have been identified for the team in New South Wales, Queensland, Perth, and Melbourne. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Latin Heat Rugby League」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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