Eight young rugby players from Mid Canterbury are this week getting the chance to not only improve their rugby The eight rugby players attending the Cantabrians’ training camp in Burnham this week. are (from left) Marcus Bishop, Elama Touli, Thomas Henderson, Caleb Johansen, Ashton McArthur, Mitchell Woolf, Devin Coyle and Braxton Morrison. Photo Suppliedskills, but gain some important life ones as well.

The camp, held in Burnham, sees 46 young rugby players come together for four days for a variety of activities.

Mid Canterbury Rugby development officer Jason Ree said they would be split in to two teams of 23 and play two games, while also working on drills and hearing from guest speakers.

“They will be on a military style plan, getting up early, working hard and eating what the soldiers are eating,” he said.

Ree said Mid Canterbury Rugby has been providing the opportunity for players to go to the camp for quite a number of years now, which was set up by an ex-Canterbury player who saw a gap in the market to get the mojo up again in rugby players between the ages of 16 and 18.

“It is not about the high performance stuff, it is more about life in general and giving them a good experience,” Ree said.

Local attendees are:

Marcus Bishop – MC Combined

Elama Touli – MC Combined

Thomas Henderson – Methven/Celtic U16

Caleb Johansen – Southern/Hampstead U18

Ashton McArthur – Celtic U18

Mitchell Woolf – MC Combined

Devin Coyle – Celtic U18

Braxton Morrison – MC Combined

By Jaime Pitt-MacKay © The Ashburton Guardian - 20 July 2017