As a result of the recently completed, 18-month, Leadership Devolution Project, 31 technical educators have been qualified and 224 new Level 1 coaches and match officials are now supporting the continuing growth of rugby league in Europe. The scheme, part-funded by the European Commission who granted €195.000 - the remainder coming from the Rugby League International Federation - included 17 partner countries.

Five Full Members - England (RFL), France (FFRXIII), Ireland (RLI), Scotland (SRL) and Wales (WRL) – assumed roles as ‘senior leaders’ of five regional clusters. They oversaw the work of and mentored five RLEF ‘leader’ graduates from the complementary Governance Foundation Project (2012-13) - Netherlands (NRLB), Germany (RLD), Latvia (LRL), Czech Republic (CZRLA) and Italy (FIRL) – who in turn acted as mentors to a tranche of ‘learner’ nations - Poland (PRXIII), Belgium (BRLA), Malta (MRL), Denmark (DRLF), Hungary (HRLF), Sweden (SWRL) and Greece (HFRL).

“The project saw 33 activities run in Europe,” said RLEF General Manager Danny Kazandjian. “This was a significantly higher than scheduled in the original application accepted by the commission in October 2013. The RLEF has always tried to ensure that the joint funding has the greatest possible impact and now the emphasis is on consolidating our position by implementing robust mentoring relationships and continuing development pathways, to support high quality growth throughout Europe.”

Each leader and learner was given the opportunity to host technical activities in their countries from January 2014 to June 2015, attended by RLEF and senior leader officials who provided expert guidance, quality control and assessment. The senior leaders hosted governance activities, supported by their National Sports Authorities – sportscotland, the French Ministry of Youth and Sport, Sport England, Sport Wales and the Irish Sports Council.

“One of the big problems any fairly young sport governing body faces is retaining, nurturing and incentivising key personnel,” continued Kazandjian. “We have seen people who began training with the RLEF in 2011 gradually assume greater responsibility and achieve greater competency in their chosen field. These individuals are now licensed and capable to deliver courses throughout Europe, thereby contributing to the sport’s strategic growth and enhanced European dimension.

“We will see direct results of this Leadership Devolution Project for years to come but already there are clear indicators. Among them, a Belgium club competition launched in November, an increase in the number of Polish rugby league clubs - putting them in a position to apply for government recognition, the huge growth in Spain and the extension of rugby league into Sicily.”

Pictured: Wales Rugby League MO educator Steve Allen delivering to Danish and German educator candidates, June 2014.

Cluster 1 (SC, LV, PL)
Two Polish match official educator candidates, Jacek Galeza and Lukasz Lucka, achieved their Level 1 Educator rating. Two Latvian candidates, Nauris Baumanis and Viktors Silvoniks, remain on development pathway.
One Polish coach educator candidate, Lukasz Lucka, and two Latvians, Aivis Asmanis and Vilmars Sokolovs, received their Level 1 Coach Educator rating while one Polish candidate, Adam Adamcewski, and one Latvian, Elmars Sefanovskis, remain on the development pathway.
Six Polish and five Latvian MO candidates received their RLEF Level 1 qualification.
One Polish and three Latvian coaching candidates achieved their RLEF Level 1 qualification (seven other Poles did not complete the qualification and require further assessment).

Cluster 2 (FR, NL, BE)
Two Dutch match official educator candidates, Jorge Vazquez and Tom van Gorkum, and two Belgians, Salvatore Liga, Ilias Laarchiri, achieved their Level 1 Educator rating. One Belgian candidate, Mohamad Belakhdar, failed to complete the course.
Two Dutch coach educator candidates, Marijlou Benders and Thijs van der Zouwen, received their Level 1 Coach Educator rating. Three Belgian candidates, Idriss Tiogum, Jimmy Mulumba and Seif Abdelkefi, and one Dutch candidate, Daan van Rossum, remain on the development pathway. A fourth Belgian candidate, Mohamad Belakhdar, failed to complete the course.
Seven Dutch and five Belgian MO candidates received their RLEF Level 1 qualification.
Three Dutch and four Belgian coaching candidates achieved their RLEF Level 1 qualification (one other Dutch candidate did not complete the qualification and require further assessment).

Cluster 3 (EN, CZ, MT, SK)
Two Swedish match official educator candidates, Rajendra Shah and Paris Ghavidel-Asgari, achieved their Level 1 Educator rating. Two Maltese, Aleksandar Markovic, Anthony Micallef, remain on the development pathway. Two Czech Match Official Educators, Petr Sedina and Matt Smith, who received their qualification under the 2012-13 GFP began their training under the new course guidelines.
Two Maltese coach candidates, Sam Blyton and Anthony Micallef, achieved their Level 1 Coach Educator rating. Two Swedish candidates, Ashley Brown and Paul Briggs, and one Maltese, Clifford Debattista, remain on the development pathway. Two new Czech coach educator candidates, Ladislav Cintler and Jaroslav Bzoch, began their training.
Sixteen Czech, five Swedish and four Maltese MO candidates received their RLEF Level 1 qualification. (Nine Czech candidates failed to achieve the qualification and require further assessment.)
Fifteen Czech, three Swedish and two Maltese coaching candidates achieved their RLEF Level 1 qualification.

Cluster 4 (WL, DL, DK)
Two German match official educator candidates, Bob Doughton and Simon Cooper, achieved their Level 1 Educator rating. Two Danish candidates, Christoffer Ellebirk and Allan Llobel remain on the development pathway.
Three German coach educator candidates, Mawuli Amefia, Bob Doughton and Simon Cooper, received their Level 1 Coach Educator rating while two Danish candidates, Richard Naylor and Nigel Kitching, remain on the development pathway.
Seven German and four Danish MO candidates received their RLEF Level 1 qualification.
Four German and two Danish coaching candidates achieved their RLEF Level 1 qualification (four other Danish candidates did not complete the qualification and require further assessment).

Cluster 5 (IE, IT, EL, HU)
Two Greek match official educator candidates, Aris Dardamanis and Dimitrios Minadakis, and two Hungarian candidates, Zsolt Lukacs and Balint Mezes, achieved their Level 1 Educator rating.
One new Italian Match Official Educator, Ciprian Gajulete, began his training under the new course guidelines.
One Italian coach educator candidate, Chris De Meyer, and three Greek candidates, Anastasios Pantazidis, Nikolaos Kostakis and Matthew Ashill, achieved their Level 1 Educator rating. Four Hungarian candidates, Lenard Grimm, Norbert Csapkai, Gyula Herpai and Jeno Juhasz, remain on the development pathway.
Nine Italian, 11 Greek and two Hungarian MO candidates received their RLEF Level 1 qualification.
Thirteen Italian, 13 Greek and four Hungarian coaching candidates achieved their RLEF Level 1 qualification while a further three Greek candidates did not complete the qualification.

ES (not part of original application)
Two match official educator candidates, Ezequiel Perez Fuster and Antonio Palacios achieved their Level 1 Educator rating. Cristian Maurin did not complete the course.
One coach educator candidate, Aitor Davila, achieved his Level 1 Educator rating. Two others, Matthew Dulley and Rodrigo Bernejo, remain on the development pathway.
Forty-one MO candidates received their RLEF Level 1 qualification.
Thirty-five coaching candidates achieved their RLEF Level 1 qualification.