Wakefield Trinity Ladies RL have announced that they will be re-launching a Super League development academy for 2022.

The all-new set-up will be the next step on our pathway to the Women’s Super League to help bridge the gap for players aged 16-19 from the community game.

This will allow any nominated/selected girls a further opportunity to progress within a performance environment at a professional Super League club, which will be mapped out over a progressive and staged development strategy, with the opportunity to represent Wakefield Trinity in a performance playing calendar.

Working closely with our community clubs, we aim to embed a support structure to ensure that young female athletes can develop their technical, tactical, physical, and mental skills, to allow them to progress systematically over a sustained period. This pathway will also provide further training and playing opportunities.

Through this development pathway, current coaches within the women and girls’ game will be able to access important CPD as well as the opportunities to coach on the pathway, which we will be commenting on over the coming weeks.

🗒️ Here is how Round 2 of the 2022 @Betfred #ChallengeCup shapes up… 🏆 pic.twitter.com/pj7NBrxTEw

— Betfred Challenge Cup (@TheChallengeCup) January 16, 2022

The new WSL academy setting has been introduced to further progress the female game and Trinity’s Head of Women’s Rugby, James Stephenson, believes that it is another step in the right direction.

“I am really pleased that we are finally able to get the ladies academy up and running,” he explained.

“We did initially look to launch this programme early in 2021 but, obviously, with the restrictions that were in place during the pandemic, we had to place it on hold.

“However, come 2022, hopefully, we may experience more normality, and the timing now seems right to progress with this important provision.

“We are looking forward to working with our community clubs with close dialogue and identifying players along with offering substantial support to our community coaches and teams.

“We hope to help further contribute towards the growth and development of Women’s Rugby League, especially with the World Cup on the horizon at the back end of this year.”

🗣️ "Overall, I'm pretty happy with the performance.."

The boss joined us post-match to give his thoughts on the victory over @HalifaxPanthers today!

Watch in full👉 https://t.co/HSn0YuqOcu pic.twitter.com/oSfLczM7kt

— Wakefield Trinity (@WTrinityRL) January 16, 2022

Furthermore, Head of Growth at the Rugby Football League, Tom Brindle, followed, “As one of the founding clubs of the Women’s Super League, Wakefield Trinity has been an integral part of the growth and progress of the women’s and girls’ game over the last six years.

“When we looked at the best ways to achieve that growth back in 2016, with a focus on the opportunities presented by hosting a Women’s World Cup, we identified the importance of using our biggest sporting brand – Super League – and the famous club identities such as Wakefield Trinity.

“We felt that would drive ambition and attract fresh players to the game – and to reach a point in 2019 where we had title sponsors for both our Women’s Super League and Challenge Cup competitions, and live television coverage of both Finals underlined the progress we had made in a short space of time.”

Further information and trial dates will be announced in the coming weeks. To register your interest, please click HERE and fill out your details or, for more information, please email james.stephenson@wakefieldtrinity.com.

Additionally, we also welcome applications for coaches and managers from our community game to form part of the development academy staff.