Castleford Tigers Launch Girls Pathway - Developing the Next Generation

Castleford Tigers Girls Pathway - Developing the Next Generation

Castleford Tigers are proud to launch our new Girls Pathway, providing a clear and ambitious development programme for female players aged Under 14 and above.

Led by our newly appointed Head of Girls Pathway Karl Wilson, the programme has been designed to identify, develop and inspire the next generation of female rugby league players, creating a sustainable pathway that supports talent from grassroots through to our women’s and girls’ performance teams.

The Girls Pathway is about far more than simply playing rugby league. It is an environment where players will be challenged, supported and developed both on and off the field, helping every individual reach their full potential.

Speaking following his appointment, Wilson spoke passionately about our future ambitions as a club. 

"It's genuinely really exciting. The vision is that we get Castleford back to where it belongs. In 2017, the Women's team were in the Grand Final. Since then, for a multitude of reasons, that's dropped off. Castleford as a community deserve it, I think speaking with CEO Danny Wilson and General Manager Rob Nickolay, we appreciate that you can't just invest straight at the top." 

"It needs investing at the bottom to create that conveyor belt of talent coming through that can then hopefully push on to what will be the under 19s and then into the first team. And I think that with the wonderful facilities that we now have here, the time is right to start it."

Wilson will be assisted in the role by Steven Ramsey, who commented: "I think it's a great opportunity for both myself and Karl and for the future of the club. I think it's really exciting and I can't wait to get started."

Wilson continued: "It's probably one of the best facilities around, especially in the Women's sport, that you could ask for. Our first intake of girls will be what are the current crop of under 14s, and we've already identified 20 girls that we'd like to invite to join the club. Conversations have started with coaches and parents on recruitment, and in the near future we'll have a signing on night to welcome them all to the Tigers."

"Both Steve and I have had the opportunity of coaching and seeing that talent for a number of years. I believe there's around 500 girls at under 14s level who play the game now so there's a large pool of talent to choose from." 

"We've got state of the art facilities here, they'll get top level training, be issued with training kit, they'll have access to physio, they'll be gifted season tickets for Castleford Tigers to come and watch the men's team play as well. We're creating a professional environment for them to flourish and develop in our system."

Wilson was also encouraged by the confidence shown to the programme by senior members of the Tigers organisation. 

"I think the most important thing of it all is that this is a vision right from the top. From Martin Jepson, and speaking to Ryan Carr, he's really keen for the Women to be right back up there at the top of the game. So it's great to see the club getting behind what we're trying to achieve." 

"The women's game continues to be one of the fastest growing sports in the UK. We appreciate the values you get from playing the game, the togetherness, the life skills that you develop, and I think that's really important to us as coaches that these young women become good people and not just good players. We want girls that will wear the badge in the community with pride and act in a certain way. We want girls with good morals, and Rugby teaches a lot of that."

"When this was first floated about as an option, we talked about the need for a short, medium and long term vision. We know there's a pool of really talented young girls out there that we can attract, and then we need to see the improvement through investment for the women's team to return to Super League so that we can have a real pathway that runs all the way through and benefits the club through the conveyor belt."

"I think there's a lot of extremely exciting local talent that's coming to fruition, and with the support of the hierarchy of the club, myself and Steve can really put our stamp on it and ingrain the DNA of Castleford Tigers and how we want to play." 

The launch of the Girls Pathway is a significant moment in the history of the club, allowing us to develop talent and better lives. Alongside the under 14s programme, the Tigers currently have a college set up for Under 16s girls, offering a level 3 diploma in sport as well as a full professional training programme alongside their studies. 

Our vision is to build one of the leading girls’ development programmes in rugby league, creating a clear pathway from youth rugby through to the Castleford Tigers Women’s programme and beyond.

By investing in young female players today, we are building a sustainable future for the club, giving aspiring athletes the opportunity to represent Castleford Tigers with pride while inspiring the next generation to follow in their footsteps.

The Girls Pathway is another significant step in our commitment to growing the women’s and girls’ game and ensuring that talented young players have every opportunity to fulfil their potential in the black and amber.

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