York College student Ciara May has been selected for the England Under-19 rugby league squad – and believes the skills she has learned on her T Level Leadership & Management course have helped raise her game to international level!
Ciara, 17, will now attend regular three-day England training camps over a two-year period and travel overseas with the squad next year to play France.
Alongside her rugby commitments, meanwhile, she will also gain another Level 3 qualification as part of the Diploma in Sporting Excellence (DiSE) programme.
That will include tuition in areas such as nutrition, alongside team bonding, gym work and swimming recovery sessions.
Having had shoulder surgery in September following a third dislocation in two years, Ciara can also access support from some of the country’s best physio and rehab experts.
After starting off playing rugby union in her home town of Selby, Ciara went on to join rugby league club York Acorn, often playing games on consecutive days in both codes at weekends.
In league, she then starred for York Valkyrie before moving to Hull FC as an Under-14 player.
Ciara subsequently switched to Leeds Rhinos over the summer, becoming part of the Under-19 squad.
She has also represented Yorkshire in both formats of the sport, serving as her county’s vice-captain for union.
Having gained her England call-up after selectors watched her in action for Hull FC and Yorkshire, half-back Ciara is now fully focussed on league and, on the prospect of representing her country, she admitted: “It feels unreal and crazy!
“From playing at Selby and first throwing a rugby ball at the age of 12, I never thought I’d make it to England. All my family will come over and watch me play in France and just hearing the national anthem being played before the game will be surreal.”
On how her T Level studies have supported her rugby progression, Ciara pointed out: “On the course, I love the presenting side of things – doing PowerPoints in class and going through everything and that has helped me 100 per cent with the leadership side of things in my rugby.
“When I was vice-captain of Yorkshire, the skills I have learnt on the course really helped me through that, because I was with a different set of girls, but I knew how to act and hold myself. We do a lot about teamwork as well in the T Level, so that really interlinks with my rugby.”
With York College accredited to the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS), Ciara will also receive support to ensure that she can balance her academic studies and elite level sporting commitments without one having a detrimental effect on the other.
Ciara regards both her rugby development and T Level course as being central to her future ambitions on and off the sports field, adding: “I’ve got a one-year contract with Leeds Rhinos and I’d like to stay for another couple of years until I’m 19, because I want to get into the first team and play in the Super League, as well as England’s first team because I’m on that pathway now. They are my main two goals.
“The easiest way to make a living from the sport is to play in Australia and that would be another dream because, in this country, you have to do all the training and play games, whilst having a full-time job, but there are a few things I’d love to do outside of playing, too. Coaching would be one, just because I love the sport and what it’s done for me.
“I’m also planning on doing a Personal Trainer course, as well as Sports Massage, which I can do here at College. Hopefully, one day, I’ll have my own business too, in a gym or something, and the T Level is giving me those skills.”
