Newcastle Thunder to host invitational academy development day

[Newcastle Thunder]

https://thunderrugby.co.uk/general/thunder-host-invitational-development-day/
 

Thunder to host Invitational Development Day

Newcastle Thunder Academy will be hosting its first Invitational Development Day this week with players and staff from the academies of Hull Kingston Rovers, Huddersfield Giants and Wakefield Trinity travelling to Kingston Park to take part.

The purpose of the Invitational Development Day is to provide an alternative development opportunity to academy players in the Under 15 and Under 16 age group – giving them the opportunity to train alongside their counterparts from other clubs across a variety of different areas.  As well as this it will provide valuable networking and development time for the staff, many of which are volunteers, of the different clubs.

The day will see players partake in; Strength and Conditioning sessions, core skill development and contact sessions delivered by staff from across the four attending academies.  This will be accompanied by a workshop delivered by The RFL’s Performance staff educating the players on the player pathway and how the journey to elite isn’t straight forward.  The day will culminate in the player putting their skills to the test in short festival like training sessions using Newcastle Thunders’ innovative SPARC rules.

Thunder have been using their SPARC rules throughout 2019 in the North East Rugby League community game as part of the Under 12 and Under 14 Player Development Programmes, but this will be the first time it will be used at Under 16 age group with players from a selected environment.  Under the SPARC rules players are able to contribute to their team’s points tally through the conventional scoring systems of rugby league as well as demonstrating particular examples of Skilful play, Physical capability, Awareness of the game, Resilience and Character such as leadership and support.

Thunder’s Academy Manager, Michael Heap, is excited about this innovative approach to player development and really pleased at the support that has been shown for this from other clubs.  Speaking about the Invitational Development Day, Michael said “We first discussed this idea at a recent Academies meeting in which myself and another academy presented on some of the work we have been doing with our community game to further enhance player development.  The SPARC concept generated a lot of interest from the other Academy Leads so we decided to launch this day.  The intention is to provide another opportunity for players to be exposed to good coaching before being challenged in a way they will not be used to.  We believe that this approach can be utilised within the Player Pathway alongside the existing Scholarship games to help create a better standard of player for the elite levels of our sport.”

Wakefield’s Head of Youth Mark Applegarth said “We are looking forward to this invitational day and I feel it will benefit all players from all clubs and challenge them in ways they probably haven’t experienced before socially, technically and educationally. Hopefully we will see more of these events being rolled out throughout next year”.

Andy Kelly, Head of Youth at Huddersfield Giants, commented “The Huddersfield Giants Academy 16’s is happy and excited to be involved in the day and its concepts. This is a very innovative project and thanks must go to the Newcastle Thunder academy and staff for staging the day. We look forward to its challenges and a successful day.”

John Bastian, Head of Youth at Hull Kingston Rovers, noted “Firstly, credit must go to Newcastle Thunder’s Academy staff for putting this development day on and bringing together 4 different academies for a day filled with enjoyment and learning for players and staff.  The players of Hull Kingston Rovers and really looking forward to getting up to Newcastle.  I believe the focuses of the day are going to enhance the long term development of the players, not only from a skill development aspect but the small sided games.”

If you would like to know more about Thunder’s Invitational Development Day then please contact Michael.heap@newcastle-thunder.co.uk.

Keep following Thunder’s website and social media channels for updates on the day and a highlights package after the event.

[Damien]

More great work from Newcastle. They really should be the blueprint for clubs both in development and heartland areas. 

[cookey]

Another winner for player development in the NE.

[RayCee]

Well done. It shows clubs outside the traditional heartland often have a broader outlook. They are a breath of fresh air.