The Serbian Rugby League Federation has received a significant grant from the Australian embassy in the nation’s capital to support its Belgrade Rugby League Academy. The five-month project will see multiple weekly training sessions in 11 Belgrade municipalities for 10-14-year-old school children and their coaches and is set to commence next month. It will commemorate both the  inaugural rugby league match played in the country and ANZAC Day by holding a tournament on 25 April, as well as two others in May and June.

 Project coordinator Jovan Vujosevic, who drew up the scheme, said: “The Belgrade Rugby League Academy has ambitious plans to increase numbers taking up rugby league, encourage them to keep playing and improve the quality at all levels in Serbia. This plan lays out the way forward to ensure that the sport is enjoyed by a wide cross section of our community.”

Serbian national team coach Marko Janković, a Bachelor of Sport coach in Serbia, his assistant Radoslav Novaković, a professor of physical education, and Serbian Rugby League women’s national team coach Ljubomir Bukvić will lead the technical training element of the wide-reaching programme – labelled “a school of excellence for rugby league” – and be responsible for deploying and overseeing a total of 19 SRLF coaches in the various schools involved from all over the capital city.

Pictured: Children at Zemun School get accustomed with rugby league.