College of Rugby League Returns!
The Tigers' Further Education course is continuing to run remotely very successfully with students eager to return to the classroom.
Castleford Tigers College of Rugby League has just begun its 3rd year of existence. In this short space of time the course has flourished, with this year over 20 students being enrolled onto the course for the new academic year.
Whilst Coronavirus has limited physical access to the course at Airedale Academy, the learners are still studying hard from home to obtain their grades, working remotely with video teaching, and really buying into the ethos of the course.
Launched in 2018, students enrolled on the Tigers College of Rugby League Development Academy programme have access to professional coaches and the guidance from professional sports performance staff alongside their studies. The course allows students to be part of the Tigers Player Development Pathway which feeds directly into the Youth Department’s Scholarship, Academy and Reserve teams. The educational curriculum and qualification are delivered by Virtual Learning UK who provide and employ all teaching staff and work in partnership with Castleford Tigers.
Since the course began, two of the students have gone on to become professional rugby league players with the Tigers, and one of the girls has made her Women’s Super League debut with the Tigers’ Women’s team. Students have also been given the opportunity to train with the First team squad to gain an insight into running and organisation behind a professional sports team.
Castleford Tigers Academy Coach and Education and Pathways Officer, Danny Evans was pleased with how the students had adapted to the new situation and were making the most of the programme: “At this moment in time we cannot get into college with what’s going on with COVID. The students are all working very hard from home online, alongside doing a home rugby programme. This encourages them to work on their core skills - athletic development from our strength and conditioning - and also movement skills . Hopefully it will not be too long until we are back in the facility but the attitude and willingness that they have shown recently has been fantastic and a credit to them!”