BARLA under 19s will visit Serbia from 5-12th June to play two games.
On 8th - at Ada Ciganlija stadium - they face Serbian Students for the Belgrade Trophy under the auspices of the Belgrade Secretariat for Sports and Youth and Belgrade Rugby League Federation.
The second game, on 11th, will be against Serbia under 21s in Stara Pazova in the renovated FK Jedinstvo stadium.
The tourists will also work on the promotion of rugby league in Serbian schools, visiting Ilija Bircanin school in Zemun. On 6th June the party will be guests at the Municipality of Zemun where British embassy officials will also join the mayor for an official reception.
Dave Roberts, BARLA U19s manager, is particularly encouraged by the development of youth rugby league in Serbia:
“I see this tour as important for the development of our young players but more importantly to assist with the development of rugby league in Serbia,” he said.
“As well as the two games, which will be fiercely competitive and will hopefully prove entertaining for the crowds, we are also looking forward to going into the schools to help introduce rugby league to the youngsters.”
“That is something we did last year in South Africa and it was extremely well received. The three coaching sessions in the schools will involve the BARLA coaching staff and some of the playing squad at each session.”