After much fundraising and some fantastic donations from Union Fenosa, the Pups Rugby Club and the Crookwell community, twelve Crookwell Junior Rugby Club players headed to Armidale earlier on in the school holidays to attend the National Rugby Camp which was held over four days from Sunday January 10 until Wednesday January 13.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The National Rugby Camp has been going for over 16 years and this year they had over 300 participants.
Eleven of the grand final winning under 12’s Pups players participated in the four day camp, with one of the younger Pups players attending, to participate in the two day ‘littlies’ camp.
One of the highlights of the camp was having the Australian women’s rugby union sevens captain Sharni Williams along with team member and vice captain, Chloe Dalton delivered to the grounds via helicopter. The girls then participated in the camp activities and answered any questions that arose.
The Australian women’s sevens team finished the 2014-15 World Series in third spot, ensuring automatic qualification for the Rio Olympics this August.
Another highlight was a question and answer session with three players of the current Waratah, Super Rugby Team.
During the four days, the boys participated in some innovative drills which covered all aspects of rugby. They participated in Viva 7’s training (rugby based touch football) and also played full contact 7’s. They learnt some new skills, improved some old skills, made lots of new friends, gained some independence, but most importantly had loads of fun.
The boys shared some of their favourite things about the camp along with what they had learnt:
Jay Cunningham - I enjoyed learning different skills each day like tackling, kicking and playing rugby union with all different people. My coach at the camp was great as he showed where to tackle as well as being supportive and encouraging. I also enjoyed having time with the under 12’s team that I played the season with.
Sam Spackman - I enjoyed the week at National Rugby Camp, especially the rucking and mauling drills. Playing the games of rugby was my favourite part of the camp. I learnt a lot about rugby and would like to thank the Crookwell Dogs and Union Fenosa for sponsoring us.
Archer Shepherd - My favourite part of the rugby camp at Armidale was the seven-aside matches we played. I learnt to improve my tackling skills, new tricks and ball handling skills. I enjoyed the camp a lot and would like to go back again!
Jake Rudd - The thing that I liked the most was the instructors. Because they took good care of me and the other kids. They taught me a lot of new rugby skills and we had lots of fun with them. I have learnt new tackling skills and how to maul. Best time of my life!
Richie Branson - I was a bit nervous about going to rugby camp but when I got there everyone made all the Crookwell boys feel welcome. I had a room to myself so I knew things were looking up. I really enjoyed the forwards and backs training and the line outs and scrums. We were divided into two groups and our group had a really nice coach.
Jack Page - My favourite thing about the camp was the sevens competition because we got to play full contact and it was very fun. I also liked the forwards and backs training when we got split up into our groups. My coach was really friendly and helpful and looked after us really well. Something I learnt was the right position to be in, in a scrum and how to tackle properly.
Dan O’Brien - I really enjoyed my trip to the rugby camp. I got to hang out with my mates and to be coached at the same time. The coaches were awesome and I learnt lots of new skills. I am thankful to my parents for taking me.
Tyson Allwright - I would like to thank everyone at the camp, my mates and my coach for the amazing opportunity. My favourite part of the camp was meeting the Waratahs players. I think the camp was a great opportunity to learn and grow as a player and i look forward to going again!
Harrison Hayes - Going to rugby camp was great. I enjoyed the forwards training and playing the quick games the best. The place had really good footy ovals. It was awesome when the lady Wallaby players came in by chopper. My favourite part of camp was talking with the Waratahs in the big gym. It was a terrific experience.
Lachlan Evans - The food was great and I had lots of fun staying with my friends. I loved playing the rugby sevens as well. I learnt how to improve my tackling technique.
Liam Croke - My favourite part of the rugby camp was playing so many games in the rain. I learnt that there is a special way to jump in the lineouts.
Joshua Evans - I loved the free time in the pool and meeting Paddy, Henry and Tom from the Waratahs. I met a great friend from Narrabri called Travis. I learnt great things about rugby.
Footnote: The boys would like to thank their parents for transporting them, their club coach, Dave Page, for organising them and the people of Crookwell who bought raffle tickets and cakes when they were fundraising to help get them to Armidale.
