Leeds Rhinos Foundation welcomed dozens of junior rugby league stars to their latest open access Player Development Day at Leeds Rugby Academy.
The sessions, which were led by Leeds Rhinos Scholarship and Women’s team coaches, once again provided youngsters with the opportunity to experience training in a professional rugby environment and improve their core skills through a series of different drills, both out on the training field and in the Rhinos’ state-of-the-art ruck room. These focused on a number of different areas, including defensive contact, hand-eye co-ordination, speed, agility and try scoring.
More than 120 junior players from 25 community clubs across Leeds and beyond braved the rain to attend these exclusive training sessions, delivered as part of the Rugby League Development Plan with Mears Group.
This also included 30 girls from the Under 12s and Under 14s age groups, an indication of the remarkable growth that has taken place within the Women & Girls’ game throughout the past couple of years in Leeds.
Lois Forsell, Women and Girls Rugby League Development Officer, commented: “We were delighted to host our latest Player Development Day on Friday, and it was especially good to see so many enthusiastic and talented girls attending.
“It really is a great opportunity for the girls to train in the same facilities as both the Leeds Rhinos Men’s and Women’s First Teams and interact with a range of different coaches, who have a wealth of knowledge and expertise to pass on.
“The sessions were really beneficial and all of the players bought in to what we were doing. We will be running more Player Development Days in 2020 and we look forward to inviting more Under 12s and Under 14s Girls to attend as part of those, helping them to improve their skills and ultimately fulfil their athletic potential.”
For more information about our Player Development Days, please contact ian.hardman@leedsrhinosfoundation.org.
