HULL FC LAUNCH FIRST EVER RUGBY LEAGUE SCHOOL ACADEMY
02 September 2010
Hull FC are to become the first ever professional club to establish a Rugby League specific school sports Academy with a new development at Hull’s Sirius Academy.
Only a week after Premier League boss Richard Scudamore insisted the future of the England national football team was inherent in the development of Premier League schools, Hull FC will lead the way with the first ever sport specific school in the form of a new Rugby League Academy.
In the world of the round ball, the sports chief’s are insistent that academies of this nature are necessary to bring the production line and development process, including the hours invested in young sportsmen and women, in line with the leading countries in the sport such as Spain, Italy, Germany and Netherlands.
It is a similar story within Rugby League, with a much more focused and effective development path for potential stars in the NRL in Australia, compared to those developed domestically in Super League, the National Leagues and indeed, the amateur game.
Ultimately, this gap becomes most apparent in international success within both football and rugby, England have fallen way short of expectations in recent years.
Therefore, the news of a brand new Rugby League Academy is welcomed and could prove to be hugely successful due to it’s position in the games most passionate territory, with Hull and East Yorkshire a hot bed for the sport.
The academy itself will see an investment of £48 million to fund state of the art new buildings and facilities that, from 2011, will play host to the game’s brightest young talents.
The free school will continue to offer all the standard curriculum requirements alongside extra curricular Rugby League development, not just focusing on core skills, but everything from the rules of the game to fitness and nutrition to psychology.
These programmes will then be enriched by involvement and tuition from members of the Hull FC first-team coaching and playing squad as well as a specific Director of Rugby League role, which will service both the new Academy and Hull FC youth development, with a suitable candidate currently being sought.
On top of that, it will also act as a regional office for the Rugby Football League, providing offices and meeting facilities for their regional development teams, staff and England coach Steve McNamara who will have a hot desk at the new facility alongside his normal base at the RFL’s main headquarters at Red Hall in Leeds.
The partnership is the next huge step of an already blossoming relationship between Sirius Academy and Hull FC, with the school exploring the possibility of hosting the club’s scholarship programme while the Black and Whites contribute a variety of programmes via the Hull FC Foundation Community team, including qualifications and courses in business and enterprise, leadership, match officiating, coaching and Playing for Success, the latter focusing on literacy, numeracy and information technology.
Dr. Cathy Taylor, from Sirius Academy believes the new Rugby League Academy will be a radical development for the school, region and the game.
“The partnership with Hull FC provides a fantastic and unique opportunity for the students at the academy who have a passion for rugby,” she said.
“We are incredibly excited by the plans to create a Rugby League Academy at Sirius as part of our specialism in Sport and are very fortunate to have the support of Hull FC, a highly successful Super League club to mastermind the programme.
Taylor added, “Our students will benefit from an enhanced curriculum which will offer training with professional coaches to develop their potential in the sport.
“Enthusiasm for the game is shared equally by girls at the academy and we look forward to promoting the sport to enable wider engagement and participation.
“The impact of the specialism will without doubt have a dynamic and very positive effect on students and the community.”
Hull FC are one the Super League’s leading clubs for their off field work in the community, recently becoming the first ever sports club to receive Clubmark Gold status, as well as being at the forefront for developing young and home grown talent, optimised by the fact that the full starting line-up in the recent Hull derby qualified for England.
Black and Whites Chief Executive, James Rule, commented, “This will be the school to be at to develop as a Rugby League player.
“The ability to host in one location a player’s academic, welfare and Rugby League skills development will enable a fantastic package for any potential star.
“We hope that this new development will help us continue to produce the stars of the future who can follow in the footsteps of Kirk Yeaman, Richard Horne and Tom Briscoe and be world renowned international sportsmen, plying their trade at Hull FC.”
He added, “We are thrilled to be expanding our relationship with Sirius Academy and they have become a valuable partner of the club in supporting a variety of our community and education programmes.
“They share our common value to Engage, Educate and Inspire and together we feel we can make a telling difference to the city of Hull, the wider region across Yorkshire and the terrific sport of Rugby League.”
Sirius Academy itself already has a strong Rugby League pedigree with a host of former students going on to grace the game, including former Hull player and now assistant coach, Andy Last, whilst one of the Houses is named after the legendary Johnny Whiteley, who opened the new school in September.
The facilities there include a state of the art 6 court sports hall and a floodlit 3G astro turf pitch to compliment the new Rugby League Academy facilities.