The tension in the already thickened Floridian air could be cut with a knife. It was the first meeting of the All American U-20 selection camp. As I glanced around at the 50 odd fresh faces from around the country, I had an instant sense of nostalgia. I too had sat in meetings like this during my junior representative rugby days, and had felt then the same feelings as these lads were feeling. I could spot the new kids, the expression on their apprehensive teenage faces are filled with nervous excitement, as they size up their competition and unfamiliar surroundings.
I also had a hunch who were the returning, more experienced players. They had more of a relaxed, slightly cocky air about them. They are doing most of the talking, and laughing. After all, they’ve already proven themselves worthy of wearing the National jersey before. They know what to expect. At least they think they know...
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Head Coach Bill “The Rock” Millard opens the meeting with a welcome speech that is both congratulatory and ominous in nature, preparing the troops for a tough week ahead. He proceeds to introduce the coaches in his usual flattering manner, embarrassing me slightly with his kind words. Although I’d never met the other coaches before, it soon became evident that he had assembled a management team with both the credentials and personality to achieve the right dynamic in order to get the job done. More importantly, I was impressed with how much the other coaches cared about these kids and the success of this program, and I was extremely honored to now be part of the formula.
Our base for the week was the Detroit Tigers Major League Baseball Spring training facilities in Tampa. Also known as Tigertown. As it was out of season, we had the whole place to ourselves, so it was only appropriate that we renamed it “Eagleville” (well, I did anyway). Our local liaison Chris “My China” Oosthuizen was entrusted as gatekeeper of Tigertown, and teller of captivating stories, keeping us thoroughly entertained.
Day 1 consisted mainly of general skills testing. In the morning we conducted a number of drills which would highlight the handling skills and decision making of the players under pressure. Tackle technique and breakdown skills were also tested.
For session two in the afternoon, players were grouped according to their positions and performed position specific drills with their allocated coaches. The legendary Luke Gross and “Pistol” Pete Borlase were responsible for the scrum and lineout. The “Mastermind” Michael Engelbrecht took care of the Back Rowers, while Billy Millard and myself looked after the backline positions.
Now that the official first day of camp was out of the way, there was more of a relaxed feeling among the players. However, the youngsters still knew they were under surveillance even off the practice field, therefore high standards of professionalism were maintained.
Day 2, or Sunday on the conventional calendar, involved some old school fitness testing in the AM, followed by a match of conditioned touch rugby in the afternoon.
The Eagles strength and conditioning coach Dave “Jetsetter” Williams popped in to put the boys through their paces in their respective positions, revealing their speed, agility, anaerobic endurance and wrestling skills.
Scott “The Godfather” Lawrence also joined the crew to share the overseeing of operations with Millard. Scott’s mild manner yet almost intimidating intelligence added the perfect amount of extra weight to the brains trust.
For the 2nd session in the afternoon, the squad was split into two teams for a semi contact game-specific hit out which would be a warm up for the full contact trial match which was scheduled for the final day of camp. This gave us a better look at players in a less controlled situation, and we already saw some leaders starting to emerge from the pack.
With the volatile tropical weather conditions, an executive decision was made after advice from the locals to bring the trial match forward a day to Monday, thus avoiding torrential downpours.
So Day 3 revolved around this game, with the morning session used as preparation for the 2 teams, providing some very basic structure to follow as they hit it out in the afternoon.
Again, the nervous energy reached a climax before kick off time, as the players new this was their biggest and most important opportunity to impress the selectors and stake their claim for further involvement in the 2014-2015 AA u20 campaign.
As expected, the match was a rather disjointed, yet bruising affair. The Blue team (coached by myself and Pete Borlase) were comfortable victors over Billy and Luke’s Pink team. No big deal.
It was a big ask for the lads to back up after two solid days of twice a day rugby testing to then play a full match of rugby. Again, this took me back to my camp experiences at that age. It is brutal. The body starts to feel like lead, with bumps and other niggles to push through, not to mention the emotional fatigue to also contend with. But somehow, you find a way to push through it. And these young soldiers did exactly that, and did it with distinction. This of course, was facilitated by the outstanding work of our Physical Therapist, Mike “Magic Hands” Palm, who had the daunting task of keeping 50 players fit and healthy all on his own.
The final day of camp saw some battered and bruised bodies, split into Forwards and Backs to complete more technical work and some fun games (for the backs anyway). By that stage, we had seen enough throughout the schedule to give us a solid foundation to cut the squad down for the next stage of Junior World Trophy preparations.
It required a few red wines and some lengthy discussions throughout the week for the coaches to solidify the selections moving forward. All in all, it was a valuable camp for the program, and an even more valuable experience for myself. I had forged many new bonds and essentially become part of a whole new family, which is one of the many wonderful and distinguishing advantages of being a part of a sport like Rugby.
Who made the cut you ask? You’ll just have to stay tuned to TIAR for all the details of the squad to take on Canada for a berth in the Junior World Trophy Portugal come Spring time.
Marc Stcherbina is a native Australian and former Professional Rugby player, having represented his country, while also enjoying a 7 year stint in Europe. He now coaches Santa Monica Men’s Rugby, USA u20s & is the Founder of Rugby Method.