Staff from the Leeds Rhinos Foundation are supporting groups of young sports leaders through their Rugby League Leaders Award to provide the next generation of primary school sports volunteers
As part of the award for students at John Smeaton, a cluster of Primary Schools attended a transition festival in preparation for secondary school in September at the school, offering 19 trainee sports leaders a chance to experience the running of a sports festival and take part in officiating, scoring and organising the festival.
As part of the award going forward, the 19 students in years 9 and 10 from John Smeaton Academy will get the chance to be school project assistants involved with Primary Schools to complete the necessary number of hours to receive the award and started with the festival at John Smeaton Academy.
The awards are designed to create the next generation of volunteers in sport with a focus on Rugby League, giving the trainees a chance to put the experience and the qualification on their CV, having worked closely with the Foundation through a series of meaningful opportunities in schools.
Leeds Rhinos Foundation Women and Girl’s Development Officer Lois Forsell has supported the Sports Leaders along with High School Development Officer Russell Parker at a selection of transition festivals in the last fortnight and will continue to provide opportunities for the trainees to complete the course in the coming months at schools who are active in Rugby League and are providing the award.
“It’s encouraging to have so many pupils taking up the opportunity to get some volunteering experience at the school tournaments we’ve run so far to contribute to their award. With our background we are hoping to of course provide opportunities and experience in Rugby League, but the trainees are not limited to our sport as what they are gaining is some very transferable skills in sports management to put on their CV, Lois commented.
“The programme benefits everyone involved as teachers can get some assistance from the sports leaders as they are completing the course and afterwards when they are qualified, we as a Foundation have future referees and officials to help us out at our tournaments and festivals and above all the pupils gain valuable experience that can help them in the future when applying for jobs and looking at gaining other sport related experience.”