Leeds Rhinos Foundation school holiday Talent ID camps saw over 100 boys and girls aged 12 to 18 taking part in skills testing and rugby league drills last week headed up by Rhinos legend Chev Walker
The new two-day camps have been introduced as part of a new initiative between Leeds Rhinos and charity Leeds Rhinos Foundation to identify and recruit talented athletes from high schools into Rugby League using a new Leeds Rhinos DNA test which provides an insight into a player’s athletic ability and potential.
Leeds Rhinos legend Chev Walker, who recently re-joined the club to lead the initiative welcomed over 50 players on two camps at Stanningley ARLFC and Oulton Raiders during summer half term with girls’ rugby camps also proving popular with over 55 players taking part over two days at Oulton led by Leeds Rhinos Foundation Women and Girl’s Development Officer Lois Forsell.
The first camp of its kind run by any Rugby League club in England, Leeds Rhinos Talent ID camps are giving young players an insight into the physical attributes suited to Rugby League as Walker explains:
“We are covering a battery of tests, one of which is peak high velocity, so we can tell the kids when they are going to be at the peak of growing, some kids mature early some kids mature late, so my message to them is don’t get too downhearted if they are not big at their current age as there’s a predictability involved with these tests that you could still be a big kid.”
“So we test that, their mobility, their strength, their power and then basically put a ball in their hands and see how they move, we’ve devised a test that tests their agility as well as their coordination and their out and out pace really. So put that together, get as much data as we can and then we can start to break it down and see which kids might have the potential to be Super League players," added Walker.
Working through a number of tests for the different areas of fitness, Walker feels the camps are also a great experience for any young player to see where there at in terms of their rugby league development:
“It’s not about thinking you are going to come on these camps and be signed straight away to play for Leeds or anybody, for me it’s more it would be to come and have and have an experience of what it would be like to be an academy or scholarship player,” said Walker.
“They are getting a taste of what it’s like to be in that bracket with the desire then to hopefully kick on and become first team players but they just get a nice early taste of what it’s like to be a professional but without it being stressful or intense on the kids because rugby is about fun but it’s given them a element of professional delivery."
Speaking about the number of girls also taking up the opportunity to come on camp with his colleague and England International Lois Forsell, Walker said:
“I’m blown away by the numbers on camp for Lois with the girls, Lois is the model, she’s an athletic girl, a great women and role model and not only that she is a great player, so if I was a young girl and Lois was the coach I’d probably be sold on that alone and their talent and their ability will be able to be dragged along by Lois.”
Leeds Rhinos Foundation will be more running more Talent ID camps in the summer holidays with dates, venues and times to be announced in the near future. Walker, who will head up the camps again is looking for more young players to take part:
“The ability has been very varied, but the efforts and intentions are the same, but they are at an awkward age where some are growing and their coordination goes a little bit and you can see that but there has been a mass of quality that you can see, so out of the 40 kids here there’s maybe already a handful that are standing out straight away," said Walker.
“Id encourage any kid to come on it if they are aspiring to be a rugby player whether amateur or professional, come have a taste of it, see what you feel and go from there," he added.
A full photo gallery of the Oulton Raiders Talent ID camp is available on the Leeds Rhinos Foundation Facebook Page.
Dates for the summer camps will be announced soon, follow @RugbyLeeds on Twitter or Leeds Rhinos Foundation on Facebook for the latest news and updates.