IRL L1 Coaching Course certifies participants from Czechia, Poland

• In 2025 IRL launched the most expansive investment into grassroots game development in its history.

• The technical education project objective is to ensure that every IRL member nation is able to produce its own coaches and match officials, through accredited local educators, and its own educators, through accredited local tutors, ensuring self-sufficiency, local leadership development and greater global capacity.
• The IRL's system focuses heavily on continuing technical development between courses, to ensure that acquired knowledge turns into maturing understanding of the game, higher technical standards and an authentically developed sport.
• The project is underpinned by state of the art e-learning management systems and coaching resources

A group of 14 coaches from Czechia and Poland are a step closer to full accreditation after attending an IRL Level 1 Coaching Course in Hradec Králové at the weekend.

The course took place in the Czechia city of as part of IRL’s Technical Education programme and was delivered by Norwegian-based Educator David Hunter with a senior domestic competition match and a junior tournament also taking place over the weekend.

“With the increasing number of youth playing Rugby League here in the Czech Republic, this weekend’s Level 1 course was essential to upskill the current crop of coaches coaching at both youth and senior level” explained Hunter.

“In addition to the Czech coaches, we had four enthusiastic coaches from Poland. Every coach involved worked hard and showed a lot of promise. I’m sure they’ll go away and improve the young players coming through.

"Overall, the Level 1 course plus the senior match and junior tournament made for a very successful weekend for Czech Rugby League”. 

All attendees will now be considered “certified” and will be added to the IRL Technical Education Portal where they will commence their post-course CATO work to gain “accredited” status and they will work with an assigned Educator to complete the modules via the portal to achieve accreditation.

“The Level 1 Coaching Course in Hradec Králové was a fantastic success and immensely valuable for the continuous development of rugby league in Czechia” added CZRLA’s Head Of Coaching Vít Studecký.

“David Hunter delivered an exceptional weekend full of practical insights, engaging discussions, and modern coaching methods. We are thrilled to see 14 newly qualified coaches ready to bring these skills directly back to their clubs and youth setups."