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Tsunami Rugby Academy Announces Skills Clinics for North and Central Island Youth
from John James
posted Feb 20 2012
On behalf of the NVIRU Tsunami Rugby Academy, I would like to invite you to the first Tsunami Skills Clinic to be held February 26th at the Nanaimo Hornets RFC fields (6700 Dover Road).
The Tsunami Rugby Academy is the regional development academy for North-Central Vancouver Island and the pathway for players who wish to pursue rugby at the provincial and national levels. The goal of the Tsunami Rugby Academy is to develop rugby excellence in our region through education and participation. This goal applies to all age groups, genders, 7s and 15s, players and coaches involved in rugby from the Northern end of Vancouver Island to as far south as the top of the Malahat. (Official boundary that determines who is a North Island player and a South Island player for future Provincial Regional Teams)
The focus of the NVIRU Tsunami Skills Clinics are to bring the years of expertise and specialized knowledge gained by members of our rugby community back to the grassroots level of rugby development. Whether it is teaching how to kick up-and-unders, how to catch a kick, how to hook or the art of the scrum, all coaches, referees, parents and players regardless of gender, ability or location are invited to listen, learn and practice their rugby skills at the Tsunami Skills Clinics.
The Tsunami Skills Clinic is open to boys and girls from grades 7-12 (approx. 13-17 years of age). Although there is a focus on an older group of junior rugby players (grades 9-12), with sufficient numbers alternative sessions can be run for younger age groups. The cost per player is $20 which includes snacks for lunch, a Tsunami shirt and the BBQ-social at the conclusion of the clinic. If any player has ANY financial difficulty that may deter their attendance, please contact me; money will not be an obstacle preventing you from playing rugby and attending this clinic.
The headlining guest coach is Pat Riordan, former World Cup and National team captain. Accompanying him are some of his former World Cup teammates including Hooker Ryan Hamilton. To round out our forward experts, we have former World Cup player and scrummaging expert Gary Dukelow from Shawnigan Lake School. Joining him from Shawnigan Lake is Team BC U18 head coach Jeff Williams who will work on the more finesse skills of the game.
We are also excited to have Barbara Mervin and Megan Gibbs from the Women’s National teams with us to inspire the next generation of players to reach higher levels of rugby success. Both of these ladies are former 2010 World Cup players and both have been in that mix of stellar 7s players who have dominated the Women’s world 7s tour in 2011.
We also couldn’t hold a rugby camp these days without including the fast past and even faster growing sport of 7s rugby. Shane Thompson, BC Elite Youth 7s head coach, has offered his time to develop 7s players and to use this clinic as a trial for his program. Those North Island players wishing to earn their names onto the radar of BC 7s program have a great opportunity to do so. As I write this, Thompson’s three teams just finished up dominating the Las Vegas Invitation 7s tournaments.
One of the most important aspects of this camp for coaches and players is coming from Pat Milford. A referee based out of Nanaimo, Pat has offered his services to cover the Safe Rugby ("May Day") protocols - something we all should know but too few player and coaches have learned or practiced.
For an extra bonus, World Cup players Adam Kleeburger and Pat Riordan have autographed to be given away as door prizes at the BBQ-social. All players who attend will have a chance to win them.
Mike Rae, NVIRU Tsunami
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