The Latvian Rugby League Federation has hosted a Level 1 coaching course in Riga which resulted in Vilmars Sokolovs and Aivis Asmanis receiving their coach educator qualification, and three new coaches qualified. RLEF coaching manager Martin Crick was supported by Polska Rugby XIII officials in delivering the course.

“Vilmars and Aivis have been working with our programmes for a while and they have improved as good course deliverers,” said Crick. “The key for them now is to ensure that there is sufficient activity in Latvia for them and the new, highly enthusiastic coaches to work on.”

Polska Rugby XIII coach educator Lukasz Lucka, who attended with compatriot Michal Wójcik, said, “For us, as always, it was a great opportunity to appreciate the experiences of another country. I'm sure everything we have learned will help us provide better courses for Polish candidates.”

The TEP is a three-year, €723.000 investment into capacity building through good governance and technical training, funded by €466.000 from the EU’s Erasmus+ project and the remainder from the RLIF and five of its full members. It is intended to build the knowledge and skills of the RLEF’s 21 European members, divided into six regional clusters, through high quality training and mentoring, while granting opportunities to share experiences amongst fellow Europeans dedicated to rugby league development.