Perth rugby development

Oct 22 2010 by Gordon Bannerman, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

AS the October break comes to a close so too does two weeks of camps for the rugby development team.

Forty kids have taken part in various rugby activities taking place on the North Inch and we would like to thank everyone for their attendance and making the camps worthwhile.

What was even more satisfying was seeing some club guys volunteering to help out at the camps, in particular Adam Pattinson, who has also been helping at other rugby development team supported events recently.

We are also preparing for the next block of primary curricular in Perth as part of our now established "TRY Rugby" program.

By the end of this school year, the community coaches and I will have provided rugby sessions to around 5,000 primary school pupils in Perth and also given them the opportunity to try rugby both after school and at Perthshire Rugby Club.

The next block will be taking place in the Perth Academy and Perth High cluster primary schools with their festivals taking place from January 10-14.

From a performance development perspective the academy players have completed over six weeks of basic movement training in the gym and the time has come for them to enter into their first ever structured strength and conditioning programmes. There will be a few aching bodies in the coming weeks as they prepare for a busy winter of training.

The skills focus is also shifting towards the contact area, the academy are doing a strong mix of wrestling, grappling and floor work in the hope that they can transfer these skills onto the pitch.

Exciting news for anybody looking to develop their skills is that sessions are available on the back pitches of Murrayfield prior to the Edinburgh v Benetton Treviso game for P4-S2 players from any club or school in Tayside and Fife on November 5.

The back pitch activity will cover key rugby themes such as passing and tackling and also give the players a chance to try out the new skills in games overlooked by some of the Edinburgh players.

After getting some autographs the players will then take their seats inside the stadium to watch Edinburgh Rugby take on Magners League newcomers Benetton Treviso.

If you wish to attend please contact Derek O' Riordan at derek.oriordan@gmail.com or 07545817529.