Junior Development Squad (Under 16)

Players are identified and selected for the Junior Development Squad from the CB School of Rugby Programmes. The Junior Academy players train together every Monday and every alternate Thursday, whilst it is also common for these players to continue playing for their school or club sides.

Each player is given an individual training programme to help them achieve their potential and are monitored by the Leeds Carnegie Academy coaching and medical team.

The Junior Development players do not play in a structured competition but the coaches recognise the need to challenge the players and games are arranged against suitable opposition, giving them the chance to come together as a team and test themselves in a competitive environment.

Our U15s, for example, are entered into a Divisional 12 aside CB Festival at the end of the season to help challenge their skill and game understanding.

We strongly encourage all our players to continue their studies and 100% of the players in the Junior Development Squad are in full time education. We aim to help our players keep a healthy balance between the club, school, representative and development programmes.

Junior Academy (Under 18)

The Junior Academy players train twice a week with the Leeds Carnegie Academy coaches and follow a personalised training programme, which is designed to maximise their development. There is no specific competition for this age group, however the coaching staff believe that it is of great benefit for the players to come together to play as a team and various fixtures are organised through the year, with past games against the Scottish U18 side amongst others.

All players in the Junior Academy are encouraged to continue in full time education whether this be vocational or academic and we have developed strong partnerships with educational institutions who understand the demands of our players and the majority are able to successfully combine their studies with their development in the Academy.

Senior Academy (18-21)

The Senior Academy players all train full time with the club and have a unique training programme that is designed and monitored by the Academy coaching staff.

Players in the Senior Academy are eligible to play in the Guinness A League, which is a structured competition that is split in to a North and South conference and comprises of 12 sides. As Academy and first team players are eligible to play in the competition, the standard is extremely high and is a valuable experience for our young up and coming players, who get the opportunity to play with, and against, some of the most established players in English rugby. The winner of the Guinness A League is decided in a final between the winners of the Northern and Southern Conferences.

As well as training full time with the Leeds Academy coaches, many of our players in this age group are given the opportunity to gain valuable match experience whilst on loan with a Championship or National League team. This loan scheme has proved very successful and has given our players vital experience and an edge in their bid to make the breakthrough into the first team.