How schools of excellence are changing the future of girls rugby league in Queensland

As a teenager, Nikki Cox would have "given anything" to play rugby league with a team of girls.

Now she is part of a growing program that develops young female students with a passion for football.

Ipswich State High School is one of nearly a dozen major schools in Queensland that offers a Rugby League School of Excellence.

The program includes elite coaching and physical training, while also focusing on students' academic records.

Ms Cox, a former Ipswich Jets player turned teacher, said she played the sport while attending Ipswich State High as a student.

But she missed out on a lot of contact play because she was the only girl on the team.

"I could do the fitness and the touch games but was pretty limited," Ms Cox recalled.

"That's what drives the desire for me to keep improving, all the things I missed out on being a girl," she said.

Having the opportunity to teach at her alma mater has almost felt like "destiny" for Ms Cox.

"I found rugby league was the ultimate team sport," she said.

Setting students up for life

The program requires rigorous training sessions throughout the week and is offered to students from year 7 to year 12.

Year 7 student Aniela Leo'o said she was shocked when she found out she had made it into the program.

"I heard about the program through social media, my parents told me about it and I had been playing rugby league my whole life," she said.

"We had a trial day and that's where lots of girls from different schools tried out for the team — I couldn't believe I made it in."

The aspiring bio-med student said the program has opened lots of doors for her future.

"It's so cool that this program can motivate you to keep on top of your classes but also train to achieve your goals," she said.

Coach Alex Nicholson is head of the rugby league program at the school.

He said while the focus remains on education, students are required to maintain 85 per cent attendance to stay in the excellence program.

"Football is very important to these girls, but we don't want to get away from the real reason they're at school, which is to have a quality education and to set themselves up for life after school."

"The school's term of being excellent is not just in what we do for training; it's also the quality of humans that we are able to produce after they finish school."

"We're setting them up for life after school."

Building confidence

What started off as 16 girls in the rugby league program has now flourished to more than 150 students trialling each year.

NRL Hall of Fame recipient Veronica White, who developed the program at more than a decade ago, said it was all about providing equal opportunity.

"It just gave me more of a passion and desire to make sure the girls were getting the same opportunities.

"The main emphasis was on education, so we're trying to teach these girls to not only be confident playing contact sport but to be confident within themselves and build up their self-esteem".