The 2018 European League edition is surprising for CERILH. The EL has been created in 2016 to solve issues faced in the past editions with formats, teams representation per country and interest. By regrouping 2 competitions in one, by defining the priority in registration firstly to champions and then cup winners, CERILH made the choice of concentrating the level into one single event that we wanted to represent the highest of what Europe can propose in terms of clubs competition.

In 2016, only 11 teams on 12 open places registered. As a restart it was a really good event with an asymmetric 2 groups and finals. Already in Rethel for a really good organization and great public interest.

In 2017, 12 teams registered and after a regular 3 groups round robin, we tested a new format less linear than a standard 1/4, semi and finale phases and more inspired by championships formats of 4 groups of 3 teams, to end on 1/2 and finals. Not all clubs were winners of a competition in their country when registering and CERILH had to work to find 12 teams. Level was high and the organization in Valladolid really great at all points.

In 2018, CERILH had to refuse the access to some teams. It is surprising and not an easy choice to make, as those teams were core to the image of the event, because they were in the 1st and 2nd edition of the EL. But the reality is that 9 champions in their respective country registered, followed by 3 cup winners and CERILH didn’t had an opportunity to add more teams, focusing in maintaining the balance between 4 days of competition, the innovative format and the public interest. It is the first time in the existence of CERILH that a club competition will welcome only winners. Amazing !!

CERILH is delighted to announce the teams:

• Rethel (France – Champion)
• Milan (Italy – Champion)
• Mallorca (Spain – Champion)
• Rubi (Spain – Cup Winner)
• Rotherham (Great Britain – Champion)
• Bisley (Great Britain – Cup Winner)
• Laupersdorf (Switzerland – Champion)
• Linth (Switzerland – Cup Winner)
• Berun (Czech Republic – Champion)
• Mannheim (Germany – Champion)
• Jelgava (Latvia – Champion)
• Köping (Sweden- Champion)

For this edition, CERILH has maintained the principle of putting into groups the participating teams of the previous edition, seeded by a serpentine method. Then, for the remaining teams, a draw has been organized.

The groups are:

The entire scheduling is under final approval