Keighley Cougars can today confirm an improved IMG grading score of 9.02 and have been awarded Grade B status for the 2024 grading year with a rank of 19 out of 35.
COO Steve Watkinson said “We’ve been working hard on our internal systems and procedures all year, making operational changes which help us collate the large amount of data required to complete the IMG Grading Form accurately.”
“It’s no secret the gradings are complicated but by taking more time to better understand the terminology and what’s required has played a big part in achieving a much improved score from our indicative 2023 score of 6.58 points and a grade C.”
“One of the biggest increase in points has come from the Fandom pillar and it is testament to our fans who turn up to Cougar Park every week and engage with our content on our website and social media channels.”
“We now need to look forward to the next 12 plus months and plan to maintain our Grade B status whilst starting to work on the other areas within the grading pillars to identify where we can pick up further points.”
“This score represents the biggest rank increase out of all 35 professional clubs and I am proud as a collective, we have pushed Keighley Cougars into 19th place.”
“The overriding message here, is we are building for something special at Keighley and having the fans on board is a huge part of this.”
Kaue Garcia, Managing Director said “It’s fantastic we’ve been able to achieve grade B status in the IMG gradings. My stance still stands that this isn’t the direction the sport needs to be heading in, but here we are.”
With the B Grade in mind, there are other off-field things we need to focus our time and investment into and as such have fully reviewed the finances of the club from top to bottom and will apportion budget appropriately to the relevant areas of the business.”
“The squad we put out on the field will very much depend on our 2025 “Moments” Membership take up which recently launched and additional local business sponsorship. I would urge anyone interested in partnering with the Cougars to get in touch with myself or Steve.”
“We have ad boards, player sponsorship and match day sponsorship opportunities which are always popular. The club will announce a revised SquadBuilder scheme this week too which any sign ups will help towards the playing budget.”
A club squad builder with direct interactions with the fans would be a great idea ??The last one created a direct debit and then heard nothing about it. Well done to all our supporters for interacting with the club it just goes to show what we can do together as a TEAM