YOUNG rugby league players from the Leigh East amateur club will be jetting off on a flagship tour to Australia next year.

A squad of 38 Under 16s players will make the 25-day trip - the first ever undertaken to Australia by a British amateur club.

The total cost of the tour will be in the region of £65,000 and already fund-raisers are more than half way to reaching their target.

East are funding the cost of the trip for the players themselves with coaches, parents and supporters paying to join the party. While there are 38 players in the party, the final total to make the trip will be more than 100.

One of the officials is former Leigh Centurions coach Keith Latham who is now a junior coach at East.

He explains: "The planning for this has taken a few years and a lot of hard work to put everything in place. But it will be a unique experience for the kids. We are proud of the fact that Leigh East will be the first BARLA club to undertake a tour to Australia."

The squad of two teams will spend most of their stay at Port Macquarie on the New South Wales Holiday Coast - midway between Sydney and Brisbane - just off the world famous Pacific Highway. Their hosts will be the Port Macquarie Sharks RL club.

Sports tour boss Victor Umbogo, the former England and Bath RU prop, has put together a provisional itinerary which East are likely to accept.

The party will fly out from Manchester on July 31 next year and arrive in Sydney after a Singapore stop-over. They will spend five nights in Sydney where they may play one match as well as sightseeing which will include a visit to leading NRL club Wests Tigers.

Once they arrive in Port Macquarie, the party stay in a top class hotel and spend most of their time with hosts Port Macquarie Sharks. Four matches are planned against the Sharks before they move on to Brisbane where there is the possibility of a visit to Brisbane Broncos. They will arrive back in Manchester on August 24.

"Just a brief look at the itinerary shows that this is the trip of a lifetime," adds Keith. "While representative sides frequently visit Australia these days, both at professional and amateur level, it's unknown for a single club to make the trip. We are given lads of all ability the chance to play the game in the strongest league playing nation in the world.

"The organisation has been going on for the past 18 months but it's only recently we've got clearance from BARLA and the NSW Country League, to go ahead. Now it's all systems go to raise the second half of the money."

The players and committee have worked long and hard to raise £31,000 so far and more big events are planned over the next year. One regular source of income is the club's lottery scheme which is backed by Acorn Printers of Leigh.

But what the committee now need are business sponsors to give the fund a significant lift.

"There are numerous opportunities to get involved from having their company name attached to the tour as main sponsors, down to kit sponsorship and other bits and pieces," adds Keith.

To help with their quest for sponsorship, the club has gone to the expense of putting together a promotional video which shows business exactly what the tour is about.

If any business or individual would like to discuss sponsorship they should contact the treasurer, Kevin Peters, on 01942-608784.

"We'll raise the money, make no mistake," adds Keith. "But this is a great opportunity for local business to get involved."

While much of the planning and organisation has been done from East's Grasmere Street HQ, the club has found considerable support Down Under.

Bob Millward, father or St Helens coach Ian, is helping with the Sydney leg of the trip.

"Bob is on the NRL committee in Australia and has opened a number of doors for us. He's been a tremendous help," adds Keith. "We can't thank him enough."