Coventry Bears have made their first high profile acquisition of 2013 with the signing of Loughborough University and England Students Captain Mark Wilson.

Wilson has been one of the cornerstones for the Midlands based side for the past four seasons in the Student Rugby League Super 6 competition. The Fullback recently captained the England Students in their narrow 36-30 defeat to the Australian Institute of sport and has had Championship one experience with York Knights.

The Bears have seen several members of last year’s squad sign contracts with the newly promoted Championship one clubs and see this as a first of many new exciting signings as more players join the club on its journey over the next 12 months in becoming a Championship one side.

Tom Tsang, Bears coach commented:  “Mark is a great signing for us. He possesses a great skill-set, athleticism and is a natural leader. He also has a fantastic attitude to training which will complement the culture and environment we are trying to create for our NCL campaign.

In signing Mark the club not only gets a quality player but the ability to nurture a pathway from the top end of Student Rugby League into the Bears First team. He is a talisman at Loughborough and we hope to sign other players from there and indeed other Midlands Universities in the coming months”

Mark Wilson commented “Coventry Bears are an exciting club to be involved with. It was unfortunate when they didn’t get the chance to step up into the Championship one in 2013, but I am now looking forward to being involved in the club on its Journey towards that goal for 2014. The set-up is fantastic at the Bears, and I’m looking forward to playing at the Butts Park Arena.”

The club is building for a pre-season start in early January and will be running two men’s sides in 2013 with the First team competing in National Conference 3 and the A team in the Midlands league, while working over the next year towards entry into Championship one in 2014.

New players are welcome to use an online form to express their interest in getting involved for next season: http://coventrybears.co.uk/play/