Colts Report from Byron Bay

Southern District colts held a weekend camp at Byron Bay on the weekend of the 7th to 9th March as part of the REDS Academy program and a lead into the the start of the 2014 season. The REDS Academy has been running since early November 2013 and there has been a massive focus to take Colts at Southern Districts to the next level. With 3 sessions a week and most players doing extras under the guidance of the Colts S&C coach Junior Ta'ale from Idefine fitness centre Peakhurst the colts have put on size, strength and power and increased the players confidence in that they can physically match it with any team. To help with the costs of flights and accommodation and the costs of T-shirts and supplements for the Academy the colts players ran 2 barbecues at Bunnings Taren Point and were able to obtain 3 sponsors and also with the assistance of the rugby club who saw the value of supporting the Academy for the long term benefit of the players. Our hosts at Byron Bay were Bangalow Rugby club who through the efforts of David Phillips and Dan Hill we were able arrange a game against the strong Bangalow 1st grade side who are a very good side and know how to play the game and were keen to get there hands on our up and coming Colts players. On a very hot 31 degree afternoon a game of rugby was played with a game of cricket being played on a field just nearby. The colts team ended up winning 11 tries to nil but they knew they had been in a game of rugby and a few forwards were given bit of a rugby lesson by some experienced players. The game was played in great spirit with plenty of intensity and it was good to see the young colts players relishing in the physicality of the game. We would like to thank the Bangalow players and the referee officials for there time and efforts and also to the Bangalow organising committee for working with us to make this happen and for supplying us with 3 vans so we could get to and from the airport and to our training and game, it was very much appreciated. I would like to thank SDRC for supporting us in going to Byron Bay and the running of the REDS Academy, it was a big undertaking which involved a lot of work and some expenses so we are very grateful to the Boards assistance and i think everyone will see the benefits every saturday for a number of years to go as the players move into there grade rugby careers and hopefully some will go much further. I would like to thank the following sponsors: Ashcroft Packaging BP Plastics Malaysia McDonalds I would also like to thank Bunnings at Taren Point for the BBQ fund raising and it was great to see the Colts players in their Academy shirts mixing with the local community and i would also like to thank Nudie Fruit Juices for there kind donations of drinks for our BBQ. Lastly thanks to the coaches, Alex Suter and Paul Barrett and Junior Ta'ale for making the time to come to Byron bay and all there help on the weekend and with all the organising, it was a real team effort. Regards Keith Holmes