Brighton & Hove Rugby League hosted the first event of their expanded schools season as six teams came to the first Rugby League Development Day.
Students from Angmering, Cardinal Newman, Dorothy Stringer, Kings and Lewes Priory spent some time learning the core skills of Rugby League from Sports Leaders at Newman College, including London Broncos Academy player Lewis Reed, including play the ball and how to be effective as from marker before playing some friendly games ahead of the InspiredBy 9s Sussex tournaments taking place in May.
Considering that most of the 80 boys in year 7 and 8 were playing League for the first time, the action was fast and furious, with some great tries and some brave tackles flying in.
Club Chair, Phil Ward, had this to say about the day.
“It’s great to see so many young lads trying out Rugby League, most of them for the first time. The day complemented the tournaments we’re running so well. Although the day was focused on increasing the players’ knowledge, there was also a lot of opportunity for teachers to ask questions about the sport, some technical but also some really thinking about how to get themselves an advantage at the InspiredBy 9s tournaments, which means it’ll drive up the standard of play.
“A big thank you to the sports leaders – some of whom have only played a handful of games of League themselves. The year 7 and 8s really look up to the college players and so they’re a bit more willing to listen! But having them there as coaches and match officials also allows the teachers to focus on coaching their team, which means that both they and their players are going to have a better time.
“We said we wanted to push schools Rugby League bigger and better than last year and we’ve got off to a great start with the Development Day. We’ve now got another one for the girls teams – which we’re hoping will be a recruitment driver for our Girls Futures programme. Then in May we’ve got InspiredBy 9s tournaments for Y7 boys and girls and Y8 boys and girls, so there’s plenty of Rugby League for teams to get stuck into.”
A big congratulations as well to St Oscar Romero from Goring, whose Y8 girls team qualified for the RFL Champion Schools National Festival on Thursday 9th May! The club will be running a special session for them the week before to give them the best chance of doing well.
If your school wants to get involved in Rugby League this summer, you can find out more on our Schools page.