After a much needed summer break it was straight back to it for the community team last week running the Summer rugby camp at the Athletic Ground.

Over 40 youngsters aged 6-14 attended the camp, sponsored by Gaucho, which ran for a duration of four days for the first time since the camps were introduced. 
 
With the bank holiday falling at the start of the week we decided that we would trial a four day camp and it was a huge success! With the club having such a long off season due to having no access to the pitches from May to mid August it is important that when we are allowed access to the pitches again that we give the guys as much training and playing time as possible before the competitive season kicks off again.
 
The majority of other clubs in the area who have community programmes and who run camps have access to their fields and facilities all year round which allows them to run a number of camps throughout the school holidays. Unfortunately we do not have the luxury here at the Athletic Ground with the ground staff needing time to prepare the pitches for the new season.
 
With the new season now upon us we decided to give the guys an extra day and introduce a number of pre season elements with one of the days being focused around Speed, Agility, Quickness (SAQ), this included a speed challenge over 40m where we recorded time using an electronic speed gate. This seemed to go down very well and even brought the competitive edge out in some of the coaches!
 
Having the fourth day to introduce the guys to some simple SAQ exercises was great at such an important time in the season for these young players. Some of the guys were a little young to grasp the concept of why SAQ is important in the game of rugby whilst others just had never considered it or indeed had the knowledge so it was great to share some new stuff with them. 
 
With schools starting back this week the community team are back in action from next week working with 14 schools during the Autumn term as well as running a number of exciting events in the local area. Ensure to keep an eye on the website as well as the clubs social media channels  for regular community updates. 
 
 Should you require more information about the camps or indeed would like to know the dates for the remaining camps that are running please contact me at ross.peacock@londonscottish.com.
 
Mini Rugby Write up 
 
After a long off season age groups in the London Scottish mini & junior section returned back to the Athletic Ground for their first training session of the season. 
 
 The minis section have three registration days planned to allow for a gradual introduction back into training and playing. Our registration days are a chance for any new starters to get a feel for the game through a relaxed introduction to rugby as well as a chance for coaches and managers to get up to speed on registration and memberships ahead of the competitive season starting.
 
The next registration day will run on Sunday 18th September and it would be great to see as many of you down as possible so spread the word and come and join in the fun!