Wales Rugby League (WRL) is working with Cardiff Metropolitan University to offer internships to students and provide them with an opportunity to help showcase all the work being done by the sport’s governing body.
Over the last couple of years, WRL has made significant progress, with a key focus on equality, diversity and inclusion and offering a chance for all to take part in rugby league in its many forms, whether that be men’s, women’s, wheelchair, physical disability rugby league (PDRL), learning disability rugby league (LDRL) or masters.
Ethan Harris and Gabriella Jukes, who study Sport Broadcast MSc at Cardiff Metropolitan University, have recently joined WRL’s media team. They’ll help generate content for the governing body’s website, social media and other digital platforms as part of the media strategy.
Ethan said: “It’s great to be involved with the Wales Rugby League set-up and the opportunity was one that I couldn’t pass up when I heard about it.
“I have to thank Joe Towns and Gareth Kear for giving me the opportunity to help out and I’m looking forward to working alongside Gabriella on the project and meeting everyone involved.”
Gabriella said: “This is an amazing opportunity to put all of the skills I’ve learnt throughout the past few months on the MSc Sport Broadcast course into practice in a professional sport environment.
“I’m passionate about inclusion and equality so I’m grateful for this exciting opportunity to help grow both the men’s and women’s rugby league teams in Wales. I can’t wait to get started.”
Gareth Kear, WRL chief executive, added: “When we interviewed Ethan and Gabriella, we were very impressed with their skills and passion for equality.
“We are delighted to welcome them to our media team as we build towards our first women’s test match against England in June and the World Cup in October.
“Our media strategy is focused on creating content that everyone enjoys and understands, with two key aims of giving our elite women players the profile and recognition they deserve and reaching out to a younger demographic and people who don’t normally watch rugby league.
“The content both Ethan and Gabriella will be generating will help us get our key messages across to people in Wales. There are plenty of opportunities for everyone to take part in rugby league.
“This partnership with Cardiff Metropolitan University is about giving students from all courses opportunities in their careers, particularly those studying in the areas of media and sports science.”
Joe Towns, programme director for MSc Sport Broadcast at Cardiff Metropolitan University, commented: “We pride ourselves on creating students who are ‘industry ready’ and armed with high-quality digital storytelling, production, sports journalism and content creation skills.
“Equally important is finding them ‘real-world’ opportunities to put those skills into practice in a professional environment. This partnership with Wales Rugby League allows a few of our students to do just that.
“It’s clearly an exciting time for rugby league in Wales and, as an organisation, they have an impressive set of values that align with our own, which is great to see, plus it’s a Rugby League World Cup year so it’ll be great to see where this experience could lead.”