The more you attend – the more you learn

The more junior rugby league academy workshop days you attend the more skilled-up you will get – and the more ready you will be for the 2014 rugby league season.

The new Cook Islands Rugby League Association junior development initiative is a programme for all boys and girls aged 9 to 14 as well as junior coaches, parents and supporters.

Free buses will be running every day to collect all the keen rugby league players from across the island and take them to the venue on the day and back home again thanks to Cook’s Island Bus Passenger Transport.

The weeklong workshop, to be held daily at one of the local club grounds, is primarily to drill home ‘safe play’ to junior players ahead of the rugby league season.

Taua Benioni, the Asia Pacific Rugby League Confederation presenter of the workshop for the Cook Islands Rugby League Association, has enlisted the support of well-known local league names to deliver the programme to Rarotonga junior league players and their coaches, supporters and even parents.

With support from local league legends Kevin Iro, Riki Cowan, John Whittaker and Jeff Murray, the programme is set to give Rarotonga junior league players the kick-start to their league season and perhaps career further down the line.

The workshop starts this Monday with the programme being run at the Takuvaine field starting at 10 with the free bus running anti-clockwise starting at Nikao field/Tepuka store at 8:45am.

Tuesday’s workshop will be run at the Titikaveka field.

At the same time as the future stars of rugby league are improving their skills, junior league coaches and interested parents will also have involvement, learning new coaching tips to help further develop the junior players.

Coaches and parents aspiring to be coaches will be assessed, and those that pass with satisfactory marks will receive a certificate.

Benioni says the whole drive of the daily workshop at the local league club is to prepare for a safer and more exciting junior rugby league programme for 2014 and he says the more the junior players attend the daily programme, the more skilled-up they will be. The programme will start at 10am and wrap up at 2pm daily.

Monday’s free bus timetable (anti clockwise) – Nikao field/Tepuka store at 8:45am, Corner Store at 8:47am, Aroa Nui Hall at 8:52am, Rutaki School Main Road at 8:57am, Wigmore’s Superstore at 9:05am, YWAM at 9:07am, Kent Hall – Titikaveka at 9:12am, Enua Manea at 9:15am, Muri Meeting House at 9:20am, Kia Orana Store at 9:22am, Matavera Packing Shed at 9:27am and the Tupapa Meeting House at 9:35am.