YORK RLFC have partnered with Rugby League Uganda.

The club will provide financial and material resources to aid the development of rugby league in the African country, which will be overseen by York Valkyrie Director of Rugby Lindsay Anfield.

Through her role as an ambassador for the Tag Rugby Trust, Anfield has made several visits to Africa to help spread the sport, including mentoring coaches in Uganda.

Speaking to the Golden Point Podcast in 2021, she admitted: “One of my big things is I’d love to take a group of my York girls out there if they manage to get a team in Uganda and see what they could do. That would be a first for rugby league, wouldn’t it?”

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York RLFC and Rugby League Uganda will form the York-RLU Academy, creating a formal pathway for Men and Women’s Under 16 sides.

The partnership will follow Anfield’s outreach work in the community, with the clubs hopeful that there will be Ugandan players representing both the Knights and the Valkyrie in the future.

“"We will be observing and supporting the player development programmes in Uganda, and up-skilling coaches through face-to-face and online mentoring and education,” she explained.

"We will do this alongside supporting the Club Championship Programme which will feed into the National Academy.

"The hope is that we will see Ugandan players representing the Knights and the Valkyrie at some point in the future.

"We look forward to a close collaboration with their performance staff, along with our Club identity being embedded across the nation."

Fortunate Irankunda, Founder of The Whales Rugby League Academy Uganda, spoke on International Women’s Day about how the development of rugby league in the country is an outlet for girls to escape child marriage.

He shares Anfield’s enthusiasm for the partnership, saying: "Having a partnership with York RLFC is the biggest step to the promised land.

"It's like an athlete's journey to the long-awaited gold medal."

York RLFC Chairman Clint Goodchild hopes that the partnership will help to create opportunities for the next generation of rugby talent in Uganda, adding: "This Club's legacy reaches far beyond the wins and losses on the field of play.

"We wish to create opportunities, provide support and encourage everyone regardless of their location, gender or economic environment.

"Rugby league is a game for all and at York RLFC we are committed to having a positive impact in communities both at home and abroad."