York Performance Pathways making an impact!

Mar 6
4 min read

York RLFC's Youth Performance Pathways programmes have continued to grow and expand over the past 18 months!

Under the guidance of York RLFC Head of Rugby Andrew Henderson, the boys section now runs Under 14s (Junior Squires), Under 16s (Squires) and Under 18s (Knights Bachelor) programmes on top of the open access Excel boys development programme (Year 7 – Year 11). The girls section continues to deliver the P2P Under 15s and Under 16s programmes and the Under 19s Valkyrie programme.

Alongside this, the York College development programme has been set-up, offering both male and female players between the ages of 16 and 19 years old an opportunity to develop their rugby league skills further alongside their education.

When Henderson transitioned in 2024 to the Head of Rugby role at the club, part of his remit was to design and deliver a pathways programme for boys aimed at developing future talent for the Knights. He was also tasked to support the development pathway already in place for the Valkyrie.

During this time, we have seen the emergence of the Junior Squires, Squires and Knights Bachelor programmes for young male players. These programmes offer extra training and education sessions that are more performance focused, running in the off-season and pre-season so as not to conflict with the players' community clubs and seasons. Potential playing opportunities can be arranged to allow players the chance to represent York RLFC. This was seen most recently where the Squires played Wakefield Trinity in a closely contested match, performing well and running out 28-20 winners.

Henderson believes this model works for York as a club and it has been well received by the local clubs, parents and players involved.

“Our aim is to primarily provide local players from York and North Yorkshire the opportunity to progress their rugby league development in a professional environment. We want to teach them what it looks like and what it takes to be a professional player if that is what they aspire to be.

"The performance pathways programmes we have developed over the past 18 months allows us to provide further development opportunities to young talented players within a pathway to progress, but not at the detriment of taking them away from their community clubs or the community game.

"The programme we have in place effectively is an add on to what they do with their community clubs. It allows the players to gain experience and exposure to a professional programme and environment without impacting their community club commitments. We are hopeful that the habits they develop and what they learn with us not only improves them as individuals, but also benefits their community club environment when they train and play there.”

Henderson believes more clubs should look at this model as it is important to keep the grass roots community game strong and healthy.

“In my opinion this model works for us. We have three or four established community clubs in our local area. If we were to take a load of young players from those local community clubs and teams into a professional environment where they were expected to only just train and play for us, then the reality is it would impact those clubs, possibly seeing junior teams or open age teams fold due to a lack of players.

"The harsh facts are that in any youth development model or system there is a very small percentage of players that will transfer into the first team, so I don’t believe in taking a high percentage of local players from their community clubs with the risk of possibly killing those clubs or teams.

"We see so many young players who have been in systems but end up disillusioned or fall out of love with the game because they can’t handle the disappointment of not becoming a first team player at 18 or 19 years of age and they don’t return to their community clubs. We lose them to the sport. The way we have approached it at York is to have them primarily with their community clubs so it maintains continuity for the player and the community club, whilst still providing an opportunity for the player in a professional environment where they can still progress within a structured pathway to potentially become a professional player one day.

"Effectively, once a player comes out of our Under 18 Knights Bachelor programme they will either continue to progress with their community club into the open age team as they have maintained that connection throughout their time in our pathway, or they will have been good enough to earn an opportunity to join the Knights or our partner club Newcastle Thunder. There is also the possibility they join our York College programme to continue their development there.

"I believe the model we have implemented here at York has the best interests of the game, both in player development and keeping our grassroots, local community game strong.”

The female pathways programmes, providing opportunities for talented Under 15, Under 16 and Under 19 players, have continued to improve. York Valkyrie Assistant coach, Mitch Sargeant, who has joined the Valkyrie ahead of this season from West Tigers, brings extensive experience in the women’s game. He's been lending his support and expertise to the female pathways programmes alongside some of the current Valkyrie players. Henderson believes that is not only great to see, but maintains a strong link, consistency and continuity through the female programmes.

“I am extremely proud of the work that has been carried out over the past 18 months in all areas of our Youth development and pathways section of the club. We have seen huge growth and improvement in both the male and female sections with the aim to provide opportunities and exposure to a professional environment and aid further development.

"We have had wonderful support from our key partners, York St John University and York College, in helping us facilitate these programmes. A special mention to York St John university lecturer, Jamie Salter who has been instrumental, along with all our coaches and support staff that have been part of the journey so far.”

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