Rudd to leave RLEF development post
Rugby League European Federation Executive & Development Officer Kevin Rudd is to relinquish his post at the end of this week, after five years overseeing the growth of the sport across the continent and beyond.
A Scottish international at every level – and with a 30 year involvement in the code encompassing a wide range of duties – he is also a highly respected consultant engineer world wide, specialising in infrastructure projects, and is returning to that sphere although he intends to keep in contact with the sport in the future.
“It is a testimony to the work going on at so many levels throughout the nations which fall under the RLEF remit, taken on by massively committed people, that my other passion of engineering has had to take a back seat” he said at the completion of his tenure.
“The Federation has had some notable successes in recent times, the autumn’s European Cup being the latest along with supporting the inception of the Atlantic Cup and developing a calendar of International events for all categories of Rugby. The stage is set for exciting times ahead, not least leading up to the World Cup in 2013.”
“As an engineer, I would hope that I have helped, in some small way, to establish a firm foundation for my successor and the international support team to build on.”
“From the experiences gained we have all learned massively and hopefully some of the lessons will be taken on board for the future. I am grateful for the opportunity and challenge of the last five years and hope that my successor enjoys the continued support of the nations that make up the European family.”
RLEF Chairman Richard Lewis paid tribute to Rudd’s sterling work. “He has done an outstanding job and created a platform, structure and competitions framework that can take us into the future” he said.
“There are more nations playing the game throughout Europe and beyond than ever before and there is a case for saying that more has been achieved in the last five years on that front than the century or so that preceded it.”
His comments were endorsed by fellow RLEF Board member Gary Tasker who commented, “It is a measure of how a job has been done by the legacy that remains, and the profile of the sport under the RLEF banner and the staff now involved has never been higher. Kevin has played a massive part in achieving that.”
Richard Lewis added, “The search for Kevin’s successor will begin early in the New Year when applications will be sought from across the Rugby League world.”