Kieron Purtill - Head of Rugby DEPARTMENT

Kieron is both Head of our Rugby department, and Head Coach of Youth and Women’s Rugby at Leigh Leopards. He provides a valuable link between both the college and the professional rugby league team.

The link has been running for 12 months. Speaking of its progress, Kieron said:

“It’s been a really good year in terms of what the rugby teams have achieved.

The interaction and the engagement from the club and the college have been fantastic.

“We’ve participated in nines tournaments and have done really well in the cup competitions. So, that side of it has been excellent, and the numbers have been good too.

“The long-term process of this link is about development, and the college’s education goes hand in hand with this. That’s where the link from myself and the club comes into it, in terms of looking at the pathways to get into a professional sport.”

Off the back of this, Leigh Leopards has recently been appointed in the elite academy. So the club can offer not just the development pathways, but an elite pathway into the sport too.

“We have had about 6-8 of our learners involved in the Leopard’s Under 18 team and more recently, Kieran Cooke, who came through the college system, made his debut for Leigh Leopards reserve team against Hull KR. This is an example that shows there’s a pathway and that the link is working.”