The Danish Rugby League has developed a new coach educator, Richard Naylor, and two more level 1 coaches following a successful course in Bogø, as part of the EU-funded TEP project.

Mark Jones from cluster partner Wales was also present. RLEF coach manager Martin Crick, who oversaw the course, commented: “Richard was well organised and a confident deliverer and with Mark also teaching some sessions, the coaches had a good experience.”

For the practical component eight students, aged 15 -16, from a local sports college were willingly seconded.

“There is the possibility now of developing a base from which to expand, the students loved the experience and the immediate aim is to develop their awareness of the game,” Crick added. “They were very enthusiastic and their teacher is keen to develop a collaboration. This would be a significant step forward for Danish rugby league.”

One of the newly qualified is an American Football coach who had studied at Huddersfield University and played and watched rugby league.

“This felt like a real step forward,” noted Dansk RL Forbund executive Naylor. “Not only did we manage to train some promising home-grown coaches, we also generated interest in the game among local youngsters for the assessments. That made for a better experience for the trainee coaches and the college are now interested in me coming in and doing some work with them for next academic year.”

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.