NWC Juniors U8’s –U12’s NWC Y & J U13’s –U15’s NWC Youth … · 2014-10-02 · North West Counties Youth & Junior Rugby League Revised Youth Development Policy ** Player

NWC Juniors U8’s – U12’s

NWC Y & J U13’s – U15’s

NWC Youth U16’s – U18’s

North West Counties Youth & Junior Rugby League

Revised Youth Development Policy

** Player Development Clubs to be removed from the program**

Academies U16-U19

A three tier Academy structure will be developed with 4 year Licenses

Up to 12 x Category 1 Full-Time Academies

Up to 4 x Category 2 Part-Time Academies

Unlimited Category 3 Education Academies

14 Game Fixture program to run within the Community game season

34 Players per Category 1 Academy Scholarship Program

20 Players per Category 2 Academy Scholarship Program

** Category 1 Academies will be the “Primary Registrar” of ALL Scholars **

Scholars will be registered with their respective Category 1 Academy and Dual Registered back to their Community Club

The Scholars playing and training schedule throughout the season will be solely determined by their “Primary Registrar”

“It is the Community Clubs responsibility to replace those players within their club

who progress on the talent pathway and in to a Scholarship environment”

** Y&J Management Forum 26th July 2014 - Dave Rotheram (Head of Talent & Player Development – RFL) **


Sent: Friday, 5 September 2014, 15:35

Subject: Youth and Junior management group revised meeting dates (Circulated on behalf of David Gent, Director of Participation and Strategic Partnerships)

Dear Youth and Junior Management Group member,

The proposed Youth and Junior meeting scheduled to take place on 13th September will be postponed, this will now take place on Saturday 18th October.

One of the reasons for this is that the Community Board will now not meet on the 22nd October, the new date for the Community Board meeting will be 18th

November. This gives all of us more time to consider the proposals.

The already planned Youth and Junior meeting for the 8th November will go ahead as normal. Therefore to confirm:-

Saturday 18th October – Youth & Junior Management Group Meeting (to replace the additional meeting that had been pencilled in for 13th September)

Saturday 8th November – Youth & Junior Management Group Meeting (as per the original schedule)

Tuesday 18th November – Community Board Meeting (to replace the meeting that was scheduled for 22nd October)

Between now and the next Youth & Junior Management Group meeting (18th October) I have asked each of the Club and Competition Managers assigned to

your league to meet with you, to discuss the proposals in detail and gain the clarification needed. The intention is that at the meeting on the 18th October the

results of all of those discussions will all be brought together into one document for the group to consider. The idea is that the document would ultimately be

circulated to the wider game so they understand the proposals. We would then meet again on the 8th November to finalise the document. The Community

Board will consider the document on the 18th November.

I also wish to clarify the role of the Community Board Player Production Group in this process. The members of this group are solely members of the Community

Board and it is to provide them an opportunity outside of the normal run of Community Board meetings to discuss the proposals in detail and discuss how best

they can be implemented or what changes are needed. This is so as to ensure that at the next Community Board, a full and insightful discussion can be had to

get an agreed approach on the player production system.

I must stress in this process and eventually agreed policy it has to be a whole game solution and there has to be a level of compromise from all aspects of the

game, both professional and community, to achieve a workable policy. The ultimate decision of what is the policy lies solely with the RFL Board. This process is

to allow the RFL Board to gain a full understanding of how the Community Game best believes we can have a successful player production and youth

development system.

Thanks for your ongoing assistance in this matter.

David

David Gent

Director of Participation and Strategic Partnerships

NWC Juniors U8’s – U12’s

NWC Y & J U13’s – U15’s

NWC Youth U16’s – U18’s


Transparently manage and administer all aspects of the day to day running of the league, its

competitions and its membership in the bests interests of the sport at Community club level within the

North West Counties

Provide a conduit for our membership through regular open forums of transparent discussion to access information, advice and resources that safeguards their immediate and long term welfare

Develop and administer robust competition structures that retain their integrity in the interests of all

member clubs and their respective participants

Deliver a consistent and balanced playing calendar that considers and facilitates the requirements

of all teams and their players across the entire ability spectrum

NWC Y&J Leagues

Primary objectives


Player availability

Community club training sessions

Most teams train twice a week at U15’s & U16’s

Facilitating this is a requirement if we are to develop ALL players

Player availability

Regional league competition

Fixture clashes with scholarship games deliver fragmented playing

schedules, fixture backlog and devalued competitions

Non Scholars

Fragmented training and playing schedules impact negatively and do not fulfil the social, mental

and physical requirements of the majority. These players are the future of the Community game

Scholars Primary Registrar

Potential to restrict the participation of scholars in both

the training and playing environment of their community

club on a regular basis

Scholarship Impact

Areas of concern


Squad Size

34 Scholars per Category 1 Academy scholarship squad

17 x U15’s & 17 x U16’s

Fixture Program

A maximum of 8 fixtures

To be played throughout a single window during July and August

Scholarship Training

Community game season

All Scholarship training sessions to be held on one agreed night each week across all SL clubs

Scholar Activity

Scholarship Window

During this period all scholars training and playing activity to be

determined by their respective Category 1 Academy

Scholarship

Recommendations

Month Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5

January No Fixture No Fixture No Fixture No Fixture No Fixture

February No Fixture No Fixture No Fixture No Fixture No Fixture

March 6th - NWC 13th - NWC 20th - NWC 27th - BH

April 3rd - NWC 10th - NWC 17th - NWC 24th - NWC

May 1st - BH 8th - NWC 15th - NWC 22nd - NWC 29th - BH

June 5th - NWC 12th - NWC 19th - NWC 26th - NWC

July 3rd - Scholars 10th - Scholars 17th - Scholars 24th - Scholars 31st - Scholars

August 7th - Scholars 14th - Scholars 21st - Scholars 28th - BH

September 4th - NWC 11th - NWC 18th - NWC 25th - NWC

October 2nd - NWC 9th - NWC 16th - NWC 23rd - NWC 30th - NWC

November 6th - NWC 13th - NWC 20th - NWC 27th - NWC

December No Fixture No Fixture No Fixture No Fixture No Fixture

NWC 27 Weeks

Scholars 8 Weeks

Bank Holidays 4 Weeks

Total 39 Weeks Scholars will play a maximum of 28 fixtures

North West Counties - U15's & U16's - 2016 Calendar (Recommendation)

Potential 22-24 Fixture program

8 Fixture program

Option for Alternative/Backlog fixtures



Increased player

availability within regional

league competitions

Increased player

availability at Community club

training sessions

No fixture clashes between Regional League &

Scholarship program

Delivers a transparent and clearly

defined training and playing

calendar

Provides a stable

framework to support the

development of ALL

participants

Removes any conflict that

could be attributed to a

players registration

status

Will assist in retaining the integrity of all

respective competitions

and their participants

What are the likely benefits for the

Community game as a result of

the recommendations submitted

by the NWC Y&J Leagues?


Delivers a concentrated and uninterrupted window of engagement

between scholars, their respective academy and its resources within a

professional high performance environment

Potential for all scholars to receive equal game time (50% or 4 matches )

throughout the 8 fixture program, with enough squad members to facilitate all possible scenarios during the window

Effectively integrates the talent pathway within both Community club and

Professional environments, whilst promoting a development over

performance ethos that assists in managing the “Burnout” theory applied to

talented athletes

Provides an opportunity for Community club coaches and non scholars to engage, observe and review training sessions and match day preparation/experience within a professional environment and enhance

their own individual development

What potential benefits could be seen within the Scholarship program as

a result of the NWC recommendations?


Player Focused

• The primary driver in the decision making and planning of programmes

• Working with players to identify their development needs and fulfil these to achieve the complete player.

Coach Enhanced

• Every coach at every level should enhance the experience for every player.

• This will be through the quality of delivery, the quality of the experience or the quality of the service provided

Environment Supported

• Providing the appropriate delivery environment for the developmental needs of the player at the appropriate time.

• This should include, administrators, coaches and parents who are ‘recruited’ to help drive towards the common goals.

As a region the North West Counties believe that by implementing the

recommendations we have proposed, it will assist in supporting a progressive

player development model throughout the youth and junior age groups and

resolve many of the issues currently faced within the community game as a

result of the existing and proposed revisions to the scholarship program

Progressive Player Development


The March to November season structure in Rugby League has presented new challenges to the sport whilst also

presenting new opportunities.

One of the greatest challenges facing this age group is the integration of a performance playing programme

(scholarship games) into a community game season. In the past, performance games took place outside of the

regular community playing season.

Talented players are in high demand from their Community Club, School and Professional Club. This leads to a conflict

on the playing calendar as well as the obvious risk of over playing talented players.

Coaches in the community game identify that Scholarship Clubs training on different nights makes it very difficult for

Community Clubs with players registered across a number of scholarships to train as one team together. This can lead

to disillusionment for the players who are not on scholarship who cannot access a regular training opportunity.

Despite guidance, some Scholarship clubs have reported that players are still playing two games in a weekend, with

Community clubs placing pressure on the players to “back up” following a scholarship game.

There are times when players feel “caught in the middle.”

Better understanding of “player availability” issues is required. Research to be conducted with all participants to

establish what can be done to mitigate this issue.

RFL Playing season review March – October 2013** Dave Butler – National Community Competitions Manager - 31st December 2013 **

The NWC Youth & Junior Leagues feel that the recommendations they

have submitted will actively assist in resolving the issues identified

above within the RFL’s 2013 March–November playing season review

Documents

NWC Juniors U8’s –U12’s NWC Y & J U13’s –U15’s NWC Youth … · 2014-10-02 · North West Counties Youth & Junior Rugby League Revised Youth Development Policy ** Player