Leeds Beckett students help prepare England for Women's Rugby League World Cup

England Women’s Rugby League have been filmed by a documentary team from the BBC to highlight their preparations for the upcoming tournament. As part of their build-up to the World Cup, England took part in team building exercises delivered by Carnegie Great Outdoors (CGO).

Physical Education with Outdoor Education students Chloe, Francesca and Holly were on hand to help deliver the session, which saw the England team work together in small groups to build rafts.

Chloe, Francesca and Holly's experience, in their own words:

“One of the best things about our Physical Education with Outdoor Education course so far has been the range of extra-curricular opportunities we’ve been given to develop our skills and expertise in outdoor education beyond our core module sessions. We were recently lucky enough to be invited to be part of a team building day for the England Women Rugby League squad that was organised by the BBC as part of a programme about the squad’s preparation for the upcoming World Cup. The event was delivered by Carnegie Great Outdoors, and involved raft building at Otley Sailing Club.

“Having recently completed our Foundation Safety and Rescue Training, we jumped at the chance to get involved. We are due to complete our Paddlesports Instructor Level 1 qualification next month, so this provided the perfect opportunity to gain more experience of delivering safe and enjoyable activities on the water, as well as giving us an insight into the planning and organisation that goes into an event like this. Prior to the event, we met with Alison and Dave from CGO to discuss a plan for the day. They introduced us to the equipment and talked us through different ways of building a raft so that we had the knowledge and skills needed to support the players.

“On the day of the event, we each worked with a small team of the players to help them to plan, design and build their rafts. This involved providing guidance on which equipment to use and advice on tying knots. It was great to see how the CGO instructors facilitated the session, ensuring that everyone was involved. Once the rafts were built, the players and coaches had to race to paddle their rafts around the island on the lake. The teams were really competitive and seemed to really enjoy working together and racing one another, despite one of the rafts capsizing!

“Although we have already gained some work experience in the outdoors, the event gave us a real insight into various aspects of the role of an Outdoor Education Instructor. This included learning how to risk assess the activities during the planning and preparation stages, supporting the instructors to deliver the session, and then playing a part in the debriefing and review of the session at the end. This really helped develop our confidence in areas we were previously unfamiliar with.

“The whole day was a brilliant experience. It was great to meet the players and be involved in an important part of their World Cup preparations, and to have the added excitement of a TV crew filming the day’s events. For all three of us, the event gave us further confidence in our abilities to succeed as future professionals in the Outdoor Education industry. We can’t wait for the next opportunity to come our way.”

The England Women’s Rugby League documentary entitled Women of Steel is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer. The team building exercise can be viewed from 55 minutes onwards.