OVER the last few years, Keighley Albion has become a hotbed for up and coming young players, with the club having a real reputation for developing sporting excellence through their player pathway.

In the last five seasons alone, the Keighley amateur club have produced 13 players who are now affiliated to professional clubs, including Wakefield Trinity stars Jack Croft and Lee Kershaw, who compete in the Super League.

Albion can now add some more players to that list, having announced that four members of the Under-14s Blacks side have agreed terms with Championship outfit Bradford Bulls ahead of 2021.

Cobi Denton, Isaac Denton, Kyle Horne and Charlie Savage will all join the Bulls scholarship programme, having signed for the next two seasons.

They will all still get to play for Keighley Albion.

The quartet were part of last year’s League and Cup double winning U13s Blacks team, and have now been selected by the Bulls for scholarships to start in 2021 at U15s level.

Charlie transitioned from the union code, having joined Albion from Bradford & Bingley. His skills have proved well suited to the 13-a-side game, with blistering pace, evasion and a fantastic kicking game being his key strengths.

Charlie showed great resilience having come through a bad shoulder injury last season, going on to have a very strong campaign in 2019.

The Denton twins, Cobi and Isaac, joined last season having never played the sport before.

Both have shone for the Blacks, sharing phenomenal pace and strength, while their natural raw power makes it difficult for opposition sides to contain them.

To complete their first season in the sport with selection to join the professional Bulls side is an impressive achievement for the two boys and their U14s Blacks coaches Dave Needham, Adam Hewitt and Chris Priestley.

Kyle was voted as the U13s Man of Steel at the 2019 presentation evening, and was the Man of the Match in the Bradford and District Cup final, which Albion won.

Pace and direct running have proved to be his key strengths, and his consistent performances have clearly caught the eye of the Bulls scouts.

That now makes it seven Albion juniors recruited by the Bradford Bulls in the last two seasons, as the four U14s join current U15s players Max Hassan, Jacob Haigh and Logan Ingham on the elite player programme.

Recognised as a member of the Leeds Rhinos, Bradford Bulls and Keighley Cougars Foundations, with close relationships to other professional teams in West Yorkshire, Albion are very much on the radar of Super League, Championship and League One clubs.

This off-season, the club are hoping to inspire even more aspiring young players to join their progressive club and give them an opportunity to play at a higher level.

For more details on how to become an Albion player, you can directly message the club’s Facebook page.