A gold star for the NRL! - By Mary

It is tremendous to get a feel good story this week, particularly after Matt Cooper announcing his retirement from Rugby League yesterday.

Today the Rugby League community has cause to celebrate as the 2013 NRL-RLPA Academic Team of the Year was announced. In connection with this, the NRL launched a new strategic partnership with the University of Western Sydney that will give players more opportunity to pursue further study once their footballing careers are over. This new partnership will be the most comprehensive professional athlete education program in Australia.

A big gold star for the NRL.

I have previously made comments about whether our players are paid too much money. You can read that story here. In that piece, I argued that our players are not overpaid, particularly when you consider that the average NRL career is about 52 games. This means that for their careers, players need to maximise their earning potential. Often this means that loyalty is a second consideration and that is why players who stay at one club for the entirity of their career are truly a cause for celebration.

Players need to have options when they finish their careers and need to understand that they will not be able to always depend on their football career and the opportunties created as a result of that career in order to support their families. NRL Chief Operating Officer, Mr Jim Doyle, today said that 'rugby league leads the way in providing further education pathways for professional athletes.' This is something which the NRL can be truly proud of.

For the first time ever, the Academic Team of the Year features a player from each club in fields as diverse as graphic design, financial planning, plumbing, carpentry and sports science. The University of Western Sydney joins a growing community of universities which are part of the NRL'S Graduates of League program, including the University of Wollongong, James Cook University, Griffith University and ACPE.

The aim of the Graduates of League program is to increase university entry, retention and completion rates of elity athletes. The program gives players one on one tuition, at least an hour a week, funded by the NRL, the player's club and the Rugby Leauge Players Association.

If this story doesn't give you a warm, fuzzy feeling inside, then the statistics below should:

- 66% of NRL players have completed or are engaged in furhter education;
- the NRL is committed to increasing this number to 84% by 2017; and
- there are not 44 full time welfare and education officers employed throught the NRL, state governing bodies and NRL clubs.

The NRL-RLPA Academic Team of the year gives players the chance to ensure that they can continue to contribute to the community positively once they have finished playing NRL. It gives players the confidence to pursue further study and gives them the resources they need.

To be eligible a player needs to be chosen by the NRL-RLPA Welfare and Education Committee in consultation with NRL Club welfare and education officers. It should be of no surprise that tremendous NRL representatives like Tim Mannah (Bachelor of Sports Science), Daniel Mortimer (Bachelor of Education), Ashley Harrison (Financial Planner) and Dan Hunt (Bachelor of Education) have all be named in the Academic Team of the Year.

This is such a positive story for the NRL. It shows that we are a sport that not only values players for the contribution that they can make on the field, but also is a sport which focuses on what players can do and contribute once they have left the game.

Love,

@LadiesWhoLeague