GLOUCESTERSHIRE College and the University of Gloucestershire All Golds combine to launch College Rugby League Academy.

An exciting new partnership between the University of Gloucestershire All Golds and Gloucestershire College will see the county’s first rugby league education academy open its doors in September 2016.

The collaboration offers young people the chance to combine their education alongside developing as rugby league players.

The academy will sit within a burgeoning talent pathway adding to the successful Bristol Academy Bulldogs, based at SGS College in Bristol, the newly instituted All Golds Conference League South squad and the University’s existing student teams in providing a route to the club’s professional side.

The programme will have timetabled technical and tactical development sessions as well as strength and conditioning elements delivered to a squad of around 25 students studying full time at the college’s Gloucester Campus at Gloucester Docks, some aspects are also planned to be delivered on the university’s Oxstalls Campus.

Gloucestershire College’s Sports Academies Co-ordinator Will Merivale, who will be overseeing the programme, was excited to make the announcement saying: “This offers a unique opportunity to balance a quality education, training, strength and rugby league specific conditioning with support from two fantastic Gloucestershire institutions.

“We look forward to being part of a wider landscape as the sport grows in this area of the country.”

The All Golds’ Talent Pathway manager Dan Garbutt was keen to express the importance of this development: “This link represents a vital part of our strategy for producing locally based professional rugby league players,” he said.

He added: “We’ve had huge success in producing players in our existing College links but a need existed for a site locally and Gloucestershire College are fantastically placed to support this programme”.

On the subject of how the programme will develop, Garbutt gave some detail: “Obviously Will and I face a busy time in terms of logistics, not least of all identifying a coach, but wherever possible we will be looking to work closely with University of Gloucestershire departments to enable students and staff to input on the programme.

“The existing model at SGS College has recently been accredited as a Category 3 Academy by the RFL and we’ve no doubt that Gloucestershire College’s programme will be positioned to do the same”.

With the Academy scheduled to start in September 2016, the focus will now turn to player recruitment.

This begins with Gloucestershire College’s open evening on Monday 25 January between 5.30pm and 8pm at Gloucester Campus, Llanthony Road, GL2 5JQ, where representatives from the All Golds will be present to talk to prospective students.

Anyone wishing to register their interest can attend the open events listed on the Gloucestershire College website (http://www.gloscol.ac.uk/) or contact Will Merivale (Will.Merivale@gloscol.ac.uk) or Dan Garbutt (dgarbutt@glos.ac.uk) for more information.