YORK Rugby League Club's first team squad are facing an examination of their coaching credentials.

Wasps boss Dean Robinson has enrolled the entire senior Wasps squad on a four day Rugby Football League level two coaching course.

Players will learn the art of skills coaching over two weekends in March as the club equips them to aid the work of North Yorkshire youth development officer Tony Gargan.

Following the course, on March 7 to 8 and 14 to 15, the Wasps' city-based players are due to be assigned to a secondary school, taking responsibility for development of the game among pupils.

Said the coach: "It is my next stage in developing the players and in achieving what I want for York. It will make them better players because they will have to start thinking about the game.

"They were very pleased when I told them there were two exams. We will then have a batch of people who are qualified to coach at a level for them to assist Tony Gargan in schools.

"It is my intention to allocate one of the locally based players to each secondary school in an effort to get the 12-plus brigade playing in York. It is part of the major game plan of development for the club."

The coaching course involved several sessions of practical work followed by written examinations.

Robinson added: "Level 2 is about the coaching of skills. It will give them an insight into coaching and open a few eyes regarding coaching theory. The examination on the rules of the game will be interesting. And it is a valid qualification for later in their careers."

The Level 2 coaching course will be run by an RFL staff coach at York University between 9am and 5pm. The cost is £25.

Anyone interested in joining the York squad for the sessions should contact Tony Gargan on 01904 634636.

The current crop of players may be joined on their course by a batch of new faces, as the Wasps are understood to be close to capturing a pair of Australians and a player from one of the Hull clubs.

The Wasps boss is keen to arrange fixtures for Sunday, March 1 and Sunday, March 29 to complement the away game with Doncaster Dragons on Sunday, March 22.

However, with the first division programme in full swing and the majority of Super League clubs still involved in the Challenge Cup, Robinson's options for opponents are limited.

Among the clubs on his fixture hit list are likely to be Super League sides Huddersfield Giants or Leeds Rhinos, plus second division foes Workington, Barrow and Oldham.

Said Robinson: "I have spoken to several clubs. You can rule the first division out and clubs still in the cup, so there are not many clubs to go to.

"In the second division, I do not want to entertain any of the Yorkshire clubs but I would not rule out somebody from the Western Conference."

The coach reported no injuries among the 17 players fielded in the cup defeat at Swinton on Sunday, with Lea Tichener back in training despite suffering concussion after his brief substitute appearance.

Robinson revealed the players would be concentrating on strength work for the next month before sharpening up on their conditioning immediately before the league season starts in April.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.