in New Haven Warriors, and the Boston Braves. The Fairfax Eagles joined the competition in 2007, and the Boston Thirteens joined in 2009. Another founder member, the Bucks County Sharks, suspended operations in 2010, while the Pittsburgh Vipers were added. In 2009, a new professional rugby league competition, the National Rugby League USA (NRLUS), was announced. The new league was to include administrators and talent from the AMNRL, and was intended to begin play in 2010. However, the league had not gotten off the ground, and officials announced their hopes that play would begin in 2011, citing the late 2000s recession as a factor in the league's lack of progress. 2010s: split competition The start of 2011 saw a schism in American rugby league, with seven sides leaving the AMNRL to form a new competition, the USA Rugby League. The departing clubs cited a lack of club input and stability in the administration of the AMNRL as the main reason for forming the new competition. The departing clubs were New Haven Warriors, Jacksonville Axemen, Philadelphia Fight, Boston Thirteens, Pittsburgh Sledgehammers, Washington DC Slayers and Fairfax Eagles. The New Jersey Turnpike Titans and Rhode Island Rebellion were new teams that came into being as a result of the USA Rugby League's formation and served as founding clubs to the new competition. In retribution, the AMNRL used its position as the RLIF sanctioned US body to overlook any USARL affiliated players from selection for USA national representative football. This enticed several players to abandon their local USARL club in the hope of representing the national team, such as Apple Pope. 2011 saw the creation of the American Youth Rugby League Association. The sole concern of AYRLA is introducing the sport to American youth. Since 2011, the American Youth Rugby League Association has created and administered summer camps and clinics in addition to a Middle School Flag Competition, A U23 Tackle Competition, A Training School Program (youth prison), a U23 Representative Side dubbed the 'AYRLA Americans', and a High School Competition. Also AYRLA has created coaching courses that are geared for Americans and American youth. The American Youth Rugby League Association is responsible for the first American in history to be brought through a rugby league youth development program to play for a first grade side. In 2012, the AMNRL reached a partnership agreement with Grand Prix Rugby to broadcast and finance the