Education a must for Bid

By KEVIN TEME
BOYS who do not go to school will now miss out on the National All Schools rugby league development programme.
This was made known by PNG NRL Bid chief executive officer Brad Tassell yesterday at the Holiday Inn during the joint PNG NRL Bid and the PNGRFL launch of the National All Schools rugby league programme (NASRLP).
The NASRLP which has taken over three months of development, planning and consultation across the country is designed to deliver the first fully coordinated junior rugby league development programme.
Tassell said the consultation process had been extensive and the programme was massive news for rugby league.
But interested primary and secondary school-aged boys who do not go to a school will miss out.
“The future of the country depends very much on the young and it is not just about the game having kids in school first, gives them the opportunity to excel in life after rugby league,” Tassell said when asked about the condition.
This is also one of the criteria set by the NRL board in Australia to have a team in their competition and with the NASRLP ready to roll out the Bid is looking to encourage the playing of league but also the education of young players.
The Bid team  approached the Queensland RL about a PNG side competing in the U16 and U18 state league competition in 2012 and the signs are promising.
Bid’s development officer Shane Morris said this was good because many children who liked playing rugby league would be motivated to go to school and broaden their knowledge both educationally and in sport.
Meanwhile, talks are underway between the Bid and the University of PNG to have a national stadium built on the Waigani campus.
“ Hopefully they’ll give us the okay to build a stadium but at this point, we are negotiating with the UPNG school’s council,” Tassell said.