Keighley Cougars Development chiefs are delighted that SettleMiddle School and Settle College have reached the finals of the girls’ Carnegie Champion Schools tournament.

The Cougars Development team of Tom Hall, Jeremy Crowther and Dean Muir have been working hard with the schools from the North Yorkshire market town and all their efforts paid off last week when both schools emerged from the national qualifying finals at Hopwood Hall, Rochdale having seen off schools from the Wakefield area with proved Rugby League records.

In YearEightSettleMiddle School beat the hugely successful Castleford High School to earn a place in the Finals at RAF Uxbridge on Friday, August 28 while in Year Ten Settle College defeated another well known school with a good League pedigree, Fryston High School of Normanton.

Now SettleMiddle School will play Holy Cross from Chorley while SettleCollege go up against Castleford High School.

Cougars’ Development Officer Tom Hall said: “People in Rugby League should not under-estimate the Settle girls who have a proved record in Rugby Union.

“There are loads of transferable skills and it will be interesting to see if the Settle girls can go all the way”.

Girls’ teams from the Keighley and Craven district have previously reached the Finals day with Holy Family HS, Keighley and South Craven HS, Sutton in Craven having appeared in the last round of the biggest schools competition in the world of Rugby League.

And the Settle schools players have another treat in store too because they will make an appearance at Wembley Stadium as part of the Champion Schools celebratory parade that is staged when the Carnegie Challenge Cup Final is played on Saturday, August 29”.

Added Hall: “It’s very encouraging when all the work we are now undertaking in North Yorkshire bears this kind of fruit”.