Hull FC can confirm that Head of Youth Pete Riding has left the club by mutual consent.
Riding leaves the club after two-and-a-half years leading the club’s Centre of Excellence youth programme.
During his tenure with the Black & Whites, Riding has overseen major success having restructured the pathway, which now features no less than 13 individual teams, and hundreds of young players.
He leaves the club’s Academy setup in particularly impressive shape, having overseen the side reach the competition’s semi-finals in two consecutive seasons, while numerous players have made the step-up to the first-team since his arrival, including Davy Litten, Lewis Martin, Jack Charles, Harvey Barron, Nick Staveley, and Logan Moy – as well as numerous players achieving national and regional representative honours – all of which is testament to the tireless work of Pete and his management team.
Academy and Scholarship head coaches Francis Cummins and Richard Tate will continue to recruit and develop some of the region’s finest young talent in the sport.
With the highly anticipated opening of the club’s new training hub at the University of Hull in the coming weeks, and the current ongoing strength of the pathway, Riding believes the time is right for a new challenge as the club moves forward into a new era under the executive management of Chairman Adam Pearson and Director of Rugby Richie Myler.
Pete Riding, said: “The pathways which are now in place, and the changes made to the recruitment strategy, will serve the club well going forward and will be the foundation for its future success and sustained growth.
“I must take this opportunity to firstly thank James Clark for giving me the opportunity to work for such a fantastic organization I want to thank all the players and staff for their support, and I look forward to watching their Rugby League journeys over the coming years.
“With the arrival of Richie (Myler) as the club’s Director of Rugby, and the direction in which he wants to take the club’s youth programme,I feel the time is right to hand over the day-to-day running of the Centre of Excellence to an internal restructure headed by Richie.”
“I feel comfortable that I leave the club’s youth pathway in a much stronger position than when I arrived at the club.”
Chairman Adam Pearson added: “I would like to thank Pete for all his hard work and commitment in re-energising and restructuring our youth pathway from top to bottom.
“We are resourced and well managed to take his blueprint forward to ensure a successful academy structure that continues to produce the Super League players of tomorrow.
“I and everyone at the club wish Peter well for his next professional challenge in Rugby League.”
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