On Wednesday of last week a large group of enthusiastic young rugby players assembled at Dolphin Park to take part in a day long Rugby clinic entitled Rookies 2 Reds. These Dolphins with ages ranging from 6-12 (and including little ladies) were assembled to learn the very important basic skills of passing running and tackling.
As the name implies the purpose was to teach the skills necessary to take them from rookies to the level where the chosen few would gain the honor of wearing the coveted jersey of the Queensland Reds.
The group which numbered 74 players (including girls) was broken up into three teams and under the watchful eyes of coaches, Cam Grant (tracking) Matt McInnes (ball placement) and Jade Stullowood (tackling) were put through basic exercises. This was followed later in the day by kicking and a full on game. “By teaching the basic skills properly,” said coach Jade Stullowood, “it enables us to put big emphases on player safety; we consider this to be of the utmost importance.”
During the tackling sessions the rookies hit the tackling pads with full gusto. Then later on when practicing the art against team mates any big mistakes were immediately corrected. When one player took his mate shoulder- high he was immediately stopped and told in no uncertain terms, “You don’t do that, it is to high; keep it low, tackle properly!” Several minutes later another good piece of advice, “They can’t run without legs.” This was followed by lessons on ball security and protecting themselves when tackled and a ruck is forming around them.
A spokesperson for the coaching panel, which is based on the Sunshine Coast said, “We are very happy with today’s attendance. There have been clinics at the Gold Coast, Central Queensland, Darling Downs, and Townsville. The attendance of 74 (compared to Brisbane’s 80) was the best of all country regions. Under the supervision of Queensland Rugby, we hold clinics every school holidays: the total support of Dolphins has made this clinic second only to Brisbane; very successful indeed.”
With so much emphases being placed on player safety, clinics such as these are a massive step in the right direction; definitely a good move for the future of Dolphins. We wish them well.
When speaking of the future the rebuilding of the Sunshine Beach Surf Life Saving Club is progressing very well. Club spokesman Craig Law said, ‘’Form work for the first floor has been completed and concrete poured; things are really taking shape; and we pray for good weather. If the weather holds we will be on track for our pre- Christmas opening. Till then our patrols will be working with all necessary gear and equipment stored in site containers: short term pain for long term gain.”
The recent school holidays were very busy for the Noosa District Netball Club with three teams the 12/13/14 age groups, travelling to the Pine Rivers to represent their club in the Queensland State Age Titles. ‘’We didn’t come home with any of the major titles,” said club President Beverly Bullivant, “but we were very happy with the teams overall performance. There were two divisions, the Challenge and the Champion and we had teams entered in both. Best performance came from the 12s, group C Challenge Division who finished in 2nd place and the 13s, group C Champion Division 3rd. Other teams performed well with all players putting in a good effort.”
The carnival which was held over four days with 2500 players and 1000 umpires was the state’s biggest: very successful, great support group of team managers, parents and coaches. A big well done to everyone.
