German national coach Dan Stocks has announced the German national squad for 2009. 19 players have been called up to attend the National Training Weekend, who have played for Germany in the last couple of years. However there are a further six places that are still up for grabs. The aim of Dan Stocks is to have a squad consisting of a healthy mix of young and experienced players who are at the peak of their form in Rugby League, both at domestic and international level.

To qualify for the national team you need to have played for Germany already or have played an active role with Rugby League in Germany or the German Exiles team based in England. In addition certain conditions must be met. Players MUST have one of the following:

1 )German citizenship,
2 )German descent (grandparents rule)
3 )or at least three years of residence in Germany.

Players must NOT have represented any other country in Rugby League. There will be no more than 5 players who live abroad, but have German ancestry in the squad.Without the correct paper work, then players will not be chosen to be in the squad of 25.

In preparation for the 2009 Rugby League European Shield, a training weekend will will be held on 23 and 24 May. This is a compulsory training weekend for those already in the squad, but remains open to others already playing Rugby League who may wish to attempt to gain a place in the squad and those who simply want to learn more about Rugby League as a number of trainers will be in attendance to cater for different levels of experience.

The training weekend will take place in Kaiserslautern, at:

TuS Hochspeyer
Kirchstrasse 80
67691 Hochspeyer

The training starts on Saturday at 10.00 clock sharp. Players should be ready for training and on the pitch at 10.00. The training program runs all day until around 17:00 clock. On Sunday the training will commence at 09.00 and finish at 14:30; there will then follow a trial game. A physiotherapist will be present and individual fitness programs will be available to all players.

Under 16s and Under 18s games are currently being played in Heidelberg. On top of this, a couple of teams around Baden Württemberg, Hessen and Rheinland Pfalz will be playing against each other. This will then lead to the States of Origin Weekend where Bayern, Nord Rhein Westfalen, Baden Württemberg and Hessen/Rheinland Pfalz will be battling it out on the 27 and 28 June in Nürnberg.

Germany will then travel to Olomouc, in the east of the Czech Republic, to play against the Czech National team on the 4th July. This will then be followed on the 18th July at 5 PM, when Germany will host the Italians in Hürth, just south of Cologne. A German National Reserve team, that will feature mainly players who missed out on playing for the National team earlier, will travel to Brussels on the 8th August to play a Belgian XIII.

For more detailed information go on to the German Rugby League Website at [urlhttp://www.rugby-league.de[/url

is there a domestic competition this year?