The Rugby Football League has been nominated for Governing Body of the Year in the prestigious 2010 UK Coaching Awards.

Rugby League’s governing body in the UK has been nominated as one of three finalists alongside England Hockey Board and Golf: GB & Ireland Coaching Framework with the winner being announced at an awards ceremony in London on November 30.

The Governing Body of the Year award is awarded to the organisation that has made a significant contribution to the development of a coaching system and individual coaches in the UK

Vinny Webb, Head of Coach Development at the RFL said: “We are delighted to be nominated for this prestigious award which is testament to the hard work and dedication of the performance and coaching department.

“This is the third successive year that we have been shortlisted for one of the honours at the annual UK Coaching Awards and we are very proud of this.

“The RFL is recognised by other sports as being at the forefront of coach education and we are pleased that we have again been recognised for our achievements in coaching.”

The RFL performance and coaching department has pioneered a number of initiatives this year to meet the criteria for this award including coaching programes designed specifically for coaching children and the impending launch of the Elite Coach Development programme that will focus on the game’s professional coaches.

Other innovative approaches to coaching have included developing a module for Wheelchair Rugby League as well as running coaching courses specifically for BME and female candidates.

The RFL currently provides the chair of the Higher Education Advisory Group for Sports Coach UK and has played a leading role in the development and implementation of the kite-marking system for Higher Education coaching courses.

It has also developed formal links with two Higher Education institutions and with Further Education for the development and delivery of its coach education programme

The RFL played a leading role in the Pentagon Group of five sports, which were the first sports to receive UKCC endorsement at Level 4.

This ground breaking collaboration, which allows elite coaches from across the sports to collaborate with and learn from each other, is further unique in that its graduates will also receive a Post-Graduate Diploma in Elite Coaching from the University of Central Lancashire.

There has never been a better time to get into coaching Rugby League and for more information about getting involved visit www.tryit.co.uk