Leeds Rhinos Foundation ran a coaching masterclass on Tuesday evening at Cockburn High School with special guest England Women Internationals Jessica Courtman and Charlene Hennigan to help schools from Leeds prepare for the RFL Champion Schools regional rounds coming up in March.
Schools from Brigshaw, Temple Moor, Corpus Christi and Cockburn benefited from a coaching carousel of rugby league skills from Leeds Rhinos Rugby League Development Officers Ian Hardman, Matthew Nicholson, Callum Tolson, Women's Development Officer Lois Forsell along with special guest coaches Jess Courtman, Charlene Hennigan and Luke Powell from Leeds Beckett University to prepare them for their tournament fixtures against school teams from across Yorkshire.
The evening involved a special carousel of coaching workshops designed to provide the girls from year 7,8 and 9 with some advice on different areas of the game, including passing, ruck plays, breaking the line in contact and setting up a goal line defensive structure.
Special guest coach on the night, England Women International Jessica Courtman commented on the importance of good quality coaching for girls playing at the high school level.
"I think it's taking a big step from what I experienced at this age, so its great to see all the girls coming down and enjoying it as well.
"We've been doing all sorts of drills tonight, lots of passing and catching, breaking the line and all the contact elements of the game, we've had a real mix of abilities of girls tonight, so you need to be able to provide different stations for everyone, which tonight has achieved."
As part of the development of the game locally, Lois Forsell provides a vital link for girls playing in the game in high school to go on and play for local clubs and was keen to provide some extra role models for the session in the form of her Bradford Women and England International team mates.
Charlene Hennigan said:
"We just need to do more of it really in all the regions, i'm from Bradford and i'm not aware of anything going on there but it's good to see the girls getting stuck in and not being scared to play the game and hopefully more of this kind of thing can happen to inspire the next generation of players.
Speaking about the need for more players improving their game through the club system, Jessica Courtman added:
"I think it's more the fact that the girls playing in school often don't know that there is local teams for girls they can play in, but there is and there are people like Lois getting stuff out there for the girls, so it would be good to see more girls transition from the school setting to the clubs for the good of the game."
To see a photo gallery of the event – Visit the Leeds Rhinos Foundation Facebook account.