The RFL’s Player and Coach Education (PACE) Festival returns to Leeds Beckett University in the next three weeks.
The RFL launched the PACE Festival last winter, with the sport’s flourishing partnership with Leeds Beckett allowing gatherings of Under-18s and Under-16s players which are thought to be unique in British sport.
This year, after an extension of that partnership until 2027 confirming LBU as the official home of the RFL’s England Pathways Programme, the Under-18s session will be held this weekend on November 22-23 – and the Under-16s gathering on December 6-7, which coincides with the Leeds climax of Kevin Sinfield’s 2025 fund-raising challenge.
Paul Anderson, the RFL’s Head of Male England Pathways, said:
“Launching the PACE Festivals was one of the highlights of 2024 in terms of the response and support we received from the 12 clubs who run elite Academies, and who welcomed the range of central support and education we were able to offer to their future players.
“It’s a great example of the value of our partnership with Leeds Beckett University, as it would be impossible to put on without the quality of facilities and people they are able to offer – and that’s why all of us who work in the Pathways were so pleased when the partnership was extended earlier this year.
“We’ll have six clubs involved on each day of each of the weekends, meaning a total of around 800 players plus another 100 or so staff, and the schedule will combine active profiling sessions in the gym and on the field with presentations about brain health (including the importance of instrumented mouthguards), anti-doping, nutrition and psychology.
“Players will be offered access to a Nutrition app based on the behaviours needed to develop good habits, managed by Leeds Beckett specifically for players, and we’ll also have plenty of elite Rugby League experience in the room with all Academy and scholarship coaches and staff that are all involved within the clubs pathway systems.
“Coinciding with the end of Kevin Sinfield’s latest challenge on Sunday December 7 will be a great way for us to finish the year – as we celebrate the young talent that continues to emerge through our clubs.”
