London Welsh Colts off to a flying start.
Our Colts Academy players have just finished seven weeks of preseason under
the expert tutelage of Andy Evans and Blake Mingay. We have had over 55
players turning up to the sessions during the summer holiday, which has been a
mixture of fitness, learning some structure and them getting used to contact
again. These sessions culminated in an internal match last Tuesday with over 30
lads playing a game of contact for the first time in 18 months; which no doubt
they all enjoyed.
London Welsh Director of Minis and Youth; and Colts Academy Manager, Gareth
Vaughan Jones, said “I’m delighted with the numbers we have had in training and
whilst I don’t necessarily expect all of them to sign up to the Colts due to various
other commitments, we know that over 90% will. We are very lucky to have two
great coaches leading these lads, which are supplemented by Rohan Pixley from
the Performance squad. They have also benefited by having our Senior Coaches
down during these sessions, with Director of Rugby Cai Criffiths; Backs Coach
Steve Shingler; and Paul Bessant helping our lads. I can’t wait for the season to
start.”
The season starts on Sunday at 12pm at Chiswick RFC for one week. We then
move to our home ground of ODP to train and play on Sunday 12th from 11am.
On that day at 1245, there will be a meeting for parents and players and anyone
else who wants to find out what the Colts will be up to this season. This will
include introducing them to the new Sponsors; a talk from our DoR; plus an
introduction to our Careers Hub by Haydn Parry.
The intention of the Colts Academy is to have two squads where possible in the
Surrey competitions, plus we have entered into the National Cup in England with
127 other clubs into a straight knock out. We are exploring a tour to Wales and
also looking at a couple of Friday night fixtures so the rest of the club are able to
watch some of the matches and enjoy a sociable evening in the club. The whole
purpose of the Colts Academy is to prepare the players for University or senior
rugby, wherever they will play and it is our intention to give them senior caps
within the club when they are ready.
September 5th – Training at Chiswick RFC at 12
September 12th – Training at London Welsh at 11am, followed by team meeting.
New players welcome.
