Another successful Young Gun Development Course finished last weekend at Maidenhead Rugby club.
Although the numbers were a little down on what had been anticipated, no doubt due to the ghastly credit crunch and half term holidays, the Course got off to a great start when Dominic Waldouck unexpectedly turned up at lunch time on the first day for an impromptu Q& A session with the Academy players. Young Guns gain was unfortunately Wasps loss as the highly talented centre is suffering from a knee injury sustained in Wasps EDF match against Gloucester and will be out of action for a number of weeks.
Dom turned up again on the Friday to deliver a master class in kicking and line breaks, both of which were a great success. The Course was again a combination of practical and theoretical with the classroom sessions devoted to Core Stability and Physiology again very popular.
There was also lots of good stuff happening out on the training pitch and although the sun shone it was chilly due to a sharp wind but generally we were lucky with the weather. The Young Guns Matrix Challenge again proved to be a real highlight and as competitive as ever, with some very keen scores being posted. The five minute run again demonstrated the commitment the players have to the Academy with the props especially putting in some real gutsy efforts.
Head Coach Jonny Hutchings was very impressed with the commitment all the players brought to the Course and commented that he felt there had been a step-up in skill levels since the August Course. He was also very impressed with just how much knowledge and information the “veteran” Academy members had carried over from the summer and rightly suggested “We must be doing something right!” [Of course we are Jonny, ED!]
The Young’Uns trained under floodlights and without the benefit of the day’s sunshine really did the Academy proud with some fantastic demonstrations of genuine enthusiasm and commitment despite the cold. Ron Mushio who was in charge of the Young’Uns said “We really have a very talented group of young players who one day are going to make the Academy and their clubs proud. I can’t wait for the next Course at Maidenhead to see how they have progressed.”
Therefore as ever a huge vote of thanks to Maidenhead Rugby club for the use of their clubhouse and great facilities. A big thank you to John Wanklyn, Roger Moore, Steve and Sarah Page for all their help and support and we hope to see everyone again very shortly.
Players - please remember to visit the exclusive member’s area on the website to check your matrix scores as well as view the image gallery of the event. One of the new features we have added to the gallery is a video clip section.