Hull Wyke are delighted to announce that back to back Challenge Cup winner and former Hull Wyke youth player, Hull FC's Josh Bowden, will return to the club to head up the Hull Wyke Academy as they enter their 2nd winter season.

Josh is delighted to be returning to his grassroots club to provide valuable knowledge to our Academy concept. This was trialled last year as a way to bridge the gap from u16/u18 to Open Age and has proved a great experience with players who went on to play in BARLA Yorkshire and National Cup Qtr finals as well as winning the Yorkshire Juniors Continuation Cup final and runners up in the YJL Tier 2 league.

This year sees a new challenge for the Academy. After playing Hull & District last winter, they are stepping up to a new Yorkshire Mens Autumn League. This will prove vital development again for our 2019 Yorkshire Mens season for players now too old for the u18s and added challenges for next year's u18 squad to play at a tougher physical level in preparation for Yorkshire Cup and League seasons. Players from last year's Academy have gone on to make Yorkshire, England College and SL Academy squads.

Josh will be the figure head for the Academy and will be working alongside current u18 head coach Dave Plummer and a new acquisition to the YJL coaching set up in the shape our former Hull Wyke Ladies head coach Rich Ellerington, who is also relishing the new challenge set by our coaching committee.

Josh's first challenge is to prepare the squad for this weekend's opening YML game v Allerton Bywater, speaking to him earlier he had this to say.
"It's a fantastic opportunity to give something back to Hull Wyke, who gave me the chance to start my career in the game. To see the hard work the club do to create a pathway from Cubs rugby all the way to the Open Age in a great environment with top facilities is inspiring. There is some genuine talent in the squad and it's a great way to bridge a sometimes daunting jump from youth to men's rugby. I'm looking forward to working with everyone and look forward to my coaching challenge."

If you are interested in Hull Wyke Academy or u18s for 2019 please contact Karl Hutchinson 07855 006478 or email hullwykerugby@gmail.com for more details.