Academy set for structural changes ? : Tue Jun 12, 2012 11:48 am
According to League Express yesterday, an article by Paul English on page 2."Discussions will take place this week over the future of the game at scholarship & academy levels with a variety of options on the table. Cheif execs at SL clubs will meet on weds to discuss a wide range of proposals including changes to the age-groups of the various comps. Perhaps the most contentious proposal is to cut down the number of academy sides which could see clubs in the same locality joining forces to run sides. The changes have been questioned in some quarters as going against the SL licensing criteria. The number of academy players graduating to SL was acclaimed by Richard Lewis when the last round of SL licences were handed out last year. The proposals include changes to squad sizes at scholarship levels while the U18's comp could change to U19 with the current U20 Valvoline cup becoming an U23's comp."
SURPRISE SURPRISE !!!!!
Good grief, no doubt the big boys will be ensuring that championship clubs Fev, Fax, Keighley, York, Oldham & Sheffield have to abandon their youth development programmes & U23's to be engulfed by their bigger "local" SL neighbours again like when we were forced to shut up shop with our scholarship programme just like twop years ago and let the greedy SL clubs mess lads around with false promises.
It appears that the foresight of some championship clubs to pick up SL U20's cast off lads and filter them into the championship pioneering U23's squads was the correct decision. Perhaps if the SL clubs as a whole continued their homegrown players' development into senior rugby over the short term johnny foreigner they'd be in better long term shape.
Of course, this could all be just a bored journo on a quiet RL news day, we'll see.....