Midlands Junior playing opportunities to expand in a summer of rugby league activity

The weekend of 31st May 2025 heralds the return of competitive junior rugby league as the new Midlands Junior Merit Leagues for U15s and U17s begin.

This initiative has been some time in planning and is the culmination of volunteers’ work to establish further long-term strategy to the growing Midlands Rugby League scene. In a move to create a league-based round robin of fixtures for those teams able to commit, it is the next step in creating a formal competitive season for a range of age groups across the Midlands region.

At U15s level, teams from NEW Ravens, Sherwood Wolfhunt, Leamington Royals and a joint team from Bassetlaw Bulldogs and North Midlands Knights (formerly Bolsover Bulls) will participate in the 6-round competition. At U17s, Bassetlaw Bulldogs, Coventry Bears, North Midland Knights and a West Midlands All-stars team will make up the roster. As part of the emerging Merit League system, teams will play home and away fixtures against their peers, being awarded points for winning, drawing, turning up and playing with full teams.

Further to the league structure – and alongside stand-alone fixtures between clubs - there will be further playing opportunities across the region with 6 summer festivals taking place for Primary-aged players, and teams at U12s, U14s and U16s. The festivals have been designed to ensure high-quality experiences for players, with hosts working towards a standardised format to ensure maximum enjoyment and participation. Festivals at Coventry, Nottingham, NEW Ravens, Bassetlaw, Sherwood and North Midlands Knights are spread throughout the summer months. Organisers are delighted also to welcome back title sponsors, Paladin Sports UK for a second year.

Speaking of his delight at the prospect, Midlands Steering Group Chair, Phil Abbott enthused: "So much hard work has gone into making this happen, by a group of dedicated volunteers at Steering Group level. We are absolutely delighted to get the new Merit Leagues off the ground and are excited to see just how well they can run this season. Feedback from those clubs taking part is already positive, in terms of the intrigue this is creating for players in those teams. I am sure it won’t be all plain sailing, but we know that, for this region, if we don’t run with it now, we probably won’t for a long time."

Abbott goes on to say: ‘We have worked to introduce some minimum standards for affiliate clubs to achieve over the course of the next 12 months. These are designed to help us up our game as administrators and to enhance the experience of all participants within our clubs. We think we have a great product in the game of rugby league, but too often in the past we have let talk come before action. We want to make sure we do our talking on the pitch, that our thinking is strategic and for the good of the region, not just our own clubs. We want to populate teams across the region with eager rugby league players so that everybody benefits from positive gamedays.

Speaking of the initiatives, Stephen Guan, RFL’s Southern Regions Development Manager said: ‘The work Phil and the steering group have done to progress this is tremendous. It has been a collaborative approach from the group, working closely with the clubs and ourselves at the RFL to develop the Primary and Junior offers across the Midlands.

"There is a strong community club presence across the Midlands with nearly a dozen of these having Primary and Junior RL offers. Having a suitable competition structure and development opportunities in place is invaluable for the growth of not only these clubs, players and volunteers but for the game as a whole across the Midlands.

"One objective of our Southern Regions Strategic Framework is to utilise the experience and knowledge of our volunteer workforce and support this to progress elements of the sport in the South, the work happening here is a prime example of this."