Anglian Vipers, Bedford Tigers and Goole Vikings reveal their cases for League One place

[Phil]

19 hours ago, The Future is League said:

Perhaps both.

Think of what the Penrith Panthers have done with both.

Penrith have literally thousands of junior players in their catchment area, you’re not really comparing like to like

[OriginalMrC]

22 hours ago, The Future is League said:

Looking at the 3 clubs i can only see that the Bedford Tigers have an academy, but perhaps Goole, and the Vipers do as well, but i can't see it.

It is my opinion that any club entering the pro ranks should have an academy/ junior sections as a way of building the club through junior development.

How many clubs in league 1 have an academy or junior section?

 

*clue - not many 

[JM2010]

11 minutes ago, OriginalMrC said:

How many clubs in league 1 have an academy or junior section?

 

*clue - not many 

I think one of the main criteria for inclusion in League 1 is to have some sort of junior pathways otherwise they might as well just be used as feeder clubs for the full time clubs. 
 
They should have some development going on in their local areas and at least a tier 3 academy 

[Eddie]

15 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

I think one of the main criteria for inclusion in League 1 is to have some sort of junior pathways otherwise they might as well just be used as feeder clubs for the full time clubs. 
 
They should have some development going on in their local areas and at least a tier 3 academy 

How many of the 9 clubs have that at the moment? 

[OriginalMrC]

51 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

I think one of the main criteria for inclusion in League 1 is to have some sort of junior pathways otherwise they might as well just be used as feeder clubs for the full time clubs. 
 
They should have some development going on in their local areas and at least a tier 3 academy 

Hmmm not aware of that and considering barely any of the current clubs are doing that I think it would be unfair on a new club.

[JM2010]

54 minutes ago, Eddie said:

How many of the 9 clubs have that at the moment? 

That’s my point. They should all have something if not what does League 1 offer?

[JM2010]

19 minutes ago, OriginalMrC said:

Hmmm not aware of that and considering barely any of the current clubs are doing that I think it would be unfair on a new club.

Not just a new club. They should all have to do it

[OriginalMrC]

5 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

Not just a new club. They should all have to do it

But they don't and I don't think it's a criteria for inclusion. 

[Derwent Parker]

1 hour ago, Eddie said:

How many of the 9 clubs have that at the moment? 

Not 100% because it was a few years ago but I am sure Keighley had one and was ordered by RFL to stop it.

The RFL decides WHO can have an academy or A team.

And as we all know they only care about SL not any teams below that.

[JM2010]

3 minutes ago, OriginalMrC said:

But they don't and I don't think it's a criteria for inclusion. 

I know it’s not. I was saying it should be

[lucky 7]

5 hours ago, JM2010 said:

I think one of the main criteria for inclusion in League 1 is to have some sort of junior pathways otherwise they might as well just be used as feeder clubs for the full time clubs. 
 
They should have some development going on in their local areas and at least a tier 3 academy 

Exactly

[lucky 7]

4 hours ago, JM2010 said:

I know it’s not. I was saying it should be

Correct

[lucky 7]

4 hours ago, OriginalMrC said:

But they don't and I don't think it's a criteria for inclusion. 

It should be though, otherwise whats the point of playing in league 1.

[Death to the Rah Rah's]

On 03/08/2024 at 07:08, Tommygilf said:

I think this process (and League 1 over the past decade) has shown that the whole structure of Semi pro to amateur RL needs reconsidering so it's fit for purpose.

 

totally agree - needs restructured from the bottom up - Keep the top 2 NCL leagues under League one, then have 8 regional leagues each with however many divisions they need for clubs in their area.

The top divisions of each Regional would be as strong as the bottom 2 NCL leagues because at present teams leaving to join the bottom NCL league just weakens the regionals.

Cross division end of season play offs for the top 2 in each league with the winners moving up into the NCL (if they want to) - would reduce travelling and make the regional leagues competitive again.

Crazy in this day and age that we still have leagues ran and financed by their own regional managements - some clubs could be overseen by 3 different league management committees if they have an NCL side, A team in the local league and youth teams ...absolutely crazy!

 

[OriginalMrC]

53 minutes ago, lucky 7 said:

It should be though, otherwise whats the point of playing in league 1.

The main thing a team in league 1 has to do is get a team on the pitch that is competitive. Everything else is a bonus. Coventry Bears had juniors all the way up to u16 while in league 1. Fat lot of good it did them when funding for league 1 was withdrawn. 

[lucky 7]

3 minutes ago, OriginalMrC said:

The main thing a team in league 1 has to do is get a team on the pitch that is competitive. Everything else is a bonus. Coventry Bears had juniors all the way up to u16 while in league 1. Fat lot of good it did them when funding for league 1 was withdrawn. 

I stand by my comments.

[Griff]

5 hours ago, Derwent Parker said:

Not 100% because it was a few years ago but I am sure Keighley had one and was ordered by RFL to stop it.

The RFL decides WHO can have an academy or A team.

And as we all know they only care about SL not any teams below that.

Sheffield had one.  They were told to stop.  Sheffield should've been overseeing the Midlands development region, imho

[JM2010]

3 hours ago, lucky 7 said:

It should be though, otherwise whats the point of playing in league 1.

Exactly 

[The Future is League]

9 hours ago, Phil said:

Penrith have literally thousands of junior players in their catchment area, you’re not really comparing like to like

Just pointing out the obvious when groups work together.

[The Future is League]

2 hours ago, OriginalMrC said:

The main thing a team in league 1 has to do is get a team on the pitch that is competitive. Everything else is a bonus. Coventry Bears had juniors all the way up to u16 while in league 1. Fat lot of good it did them when funding for league 1 was withdrawn. 

Without junior development at all levels of the game, the game has a limited future.

[JM2010]

2 hours ago, OriginalMrC said:

The main thing a team in league 1 has to do is get a team on the pitch that is competitive. Everything else is a bonus. Coventry Bears had juniors all the way up to u16 while in league 1. Fat lot of good it did them when funding for league 1 was withdrawn. 

Do they still have juniors?

[Gomersall]

1 hour ago, JM2010 said:

Do they still have juniors?

https://www.coventrybears.com/juniors

[JM2010]

4 minutes ago, Gomersall said:

https://www.coventrybears.com/juniors

It’s good to see they’ve still got juniors. To me this is what expansion is all about. The Midlands model where a club is set up above the community clubs so they can continue running juniors and feeding into the professional club rather than the community club stepping up and having to focus all there efforts on the first team is the way to go. 

[OriginalMrC]

1 hour ago, The Future is League said:

Without junior development at all levels of the game, the game has a limited future.

You don't need to tell me but my point is that it's not a priority for league 1 clubs for many reasons, not least because they are not required to and because it's usually amateur clubs who do junior development 

[OriginalMrC]

1 hour ago, JM2010 said:

Do they still have juniors?

Coventry Bears have junior girls and boys up to u16 as well as a women's team. Midlands Hurricanes who now have the league 1 licence have a women's team but no junior development.