Regional development agency Yorkshire Forward and the Rugby Football League (RFL) have teamed up in a bid to help young unemployed people in deprived areas of Yorkshire and the Humber.

A new three-year initiative aims to use the popularity of rugby league in a bid to develop leadership and enterprise skills of 1,200 teenagers across the region and improve their employability and boost aspirations. Designed to ensure people between the ages of 14 and 19 years old don't become classified as "Not in Employment, Education or Training" (NEETS), the scheme will offer a certified training course.

Young people will then be handed the opportunity to further develop their skills by taking up roles as coaches, helpers or match officials at their local community Clubmark club, while volunteer and paid openings may also become available with a professional club. RFL community partnership manager Chris Thair said: "This project is about employment, investing in the current workforce by safeguarding and creating new jobs and playing a small part in ensuring young people in Yorkshire are better equipped to enter the job market in the future."

Yorkshire Forward assistant director of skills Ruth Adams added: "The course will help the teenagers develop enterprise and employability skills by undertaking an initial interactive leadership and organisers course, and they will be able to take the skills they learn forward to volunteer and placement positions, which in turn will increase the likelihood of employment in the future."