Prospective Rugby League players looking to take on a college qualification in the new school year will be able to showcase their Rugby Skills in the Leeds City College trials game at Kirkstall Rugby Academy on the 19th February.
The trial game will see teams made up of current Leeds City College attendees and Year 11 school leavers interested in doing a course with the College starting in September, on the same 3G pitch facility that the Rhinos train on throughout the year.
Leeds City College, which is a long term key partner of the Rhinos Foundation, offer three B-Tech Diploma courses made up of a First Diploma in Sport Services (Level 2) and extended Diploma’s in Sport Performance & Excellence and Sport and Exercise Science (Level 3).
Along with the qualification the students get the chance to train at the Leeds Rhinos training academy using the same facilities used by the Rhinos first team such as the gym, combat room and 3G pitches and provided with programmes to develop themselves physically alongside honing their rugby skill set from academy Rugby and conditioning coaches.
One of the main benefits of the course is the potential player pathway into professional Rugby League, as students are not only coached by Rhinos legend Keith Senior, in his role as Leeds City College Academy Head Coach, but reviewed by the Rhinos player scout setup, who monitor the player’s progress throughout the duration of the course.
One of the recent success stories from the course has been current academy player Ben Frankland, who is completing his studies alongside training with the Rhinos Academy as well 10 players are also currently completing their qualification at the College including: Jordan Lilley, Nathan Barker, Danny Halmshaw, Sam Hallas, Tommy Brierley, Matty While, Jack Norfolk, Josh Jordan-Roberts, Ben Brady and Jack Wray.
Keith Senior has been working with Leeds City College in the Head Coach role since June and has overseen the development of the current crop of players:
"This is a fantastic opportunity for young rugby players. We aim to provide the best player pathway for young players to progress to the next level, by developing their rugby talent combined with their academic studies at the Leeds Rhinos training facilities."
For more information on enrolling on a course for September 2015 e-mail: courses@leedscitycollege.ac.uk