The York City Knights Scholarship scheme was originally launched in 2004, presenting an opportunity for gifted players from the local area to come together and receive high quality coaching in a professional environment.

Since then the scholarship scheme has developed with more athletes and coaches being involved than ever before. The programme starts in September and follows the school year as players develop there skills further with the aim of establishing themselves on the RFL Performance Pathway.

Fours years on and we are beginning to see the benefits of the scheme as the standard of Rugby League in York and North Yorkshire continues to increase. Training takes place for one hour per week on a Monday evening at the state of the art York College facility, and is designed to supplement the good work done by the amateur clubs within the North Yorkshire Service Area.

The players involved are the most talented and promising thirteen to sixteen year olds in the area and for this reason we expect high standards during the training sessions.  The players are encouraged to produce a high standard of core skills, which include grip, pass and catch, skills which are fundamental to our game. We also coach the players on all aspects of attacking and defensive plays, encouraging group discussion on why it is important to perform these plays correctly and how to adjust to certain situations during a game. The training drills are often very similar to the ones taking place at the Knights first team and academy training sessions, enabling players to become familiar with the standards needed to make it to a high level in the game. Mixed in the drills, we endeavour to build in small sided games to enable the players to use their skills under pressure, as we believe this is the best way to learn. In time we hope that the skills will become a second nature to them as they progressthrough our system.

Along with Monday’s training session, the scholarship players are given lectures and information with regards to fitness, nutrition and game preparation.  As players are representing the club, we have a genuine interest in their progress at school and their conduct in public is monitored in an effort to groom them into becoming good people as well as quality rugby league players.

The following players are on the scheme in 2008/09. We congratulate all players on there achievement so far and wish them success on the programme.