Scotland Under 17 Squad set to train in Spain

Cumnock Chatboard thread

As part of their development to U18 age grade level, a squad of 30 Scotland U17 team members will set off for Valladolid
in north-central Spain tomorrow (2 July).

The players, management and support staff will spend an intensive fortnight at the camp where the focus is on technical,
tactical, mental and physical (strength and conditioning) training.

An 8am start each day for physio and gym work, an enforced rest in the middle of the day given the climate, then training again at 6pm,says Bryan Easson, Scotland U17 Head Coach.

Added to that there are unit sessions, group sessions and one-on-one goal setting sessions with the coaches an intensive programme, designed to teach the players how to be professional athletes and to give the coaches an all-round idea of the players.

The camp led by Scotland U18 Head Coach, Grant McKelvey, with strength and conditioning from Val Houston acts as the transformation period for the young players from the U17 to U18 development side, where they will move into the hands the U18 coaching team following a further assessment camp in September.

This is the third year that Scotland under-17 squad has benefited from the facilities at Valladolid. The 30-strong squad includes 12 players new to the group due to injury, unavailability and deselection since their successful participation at this year Millfield Festival. The camp is run through Cumbernauld College with funding from the European Community programme, the
Leonardo da Vinci Trust (the criteria of which prohibits team travel within a teams own country).
Catch up with the Valladolid training regime via a players blog on the Scotland U17 web site.

Scotland U17 Development Squad
Robin Hislop (Hawick Wanderers) Prop
Gavin Robertson (Earlston HS / Melrose) Prop
Alex Allan (Sedbergh School) Prop
Struan Cessford (High School of Dundee) Prop
Jack MacFarlane (Gourock HS / Greenock Wanderers) Hooker
Ryan Hood (Strathallan) Hooker
George Turner (Stewart’s Melville College) Hooker
Fraser Wem (Hampton School / Wasps) Second row
Craig Ferguson (East Kilbride) Second Row
Sean McDevitt (High School of Glasgow) Second Row
George Barnes (Chesterfield) Second Row
Mitchell Eadie (Filton College) Back Row
Malcolm Peathingy (George Watson's College) Back Row
Matthew Walker (Boroughmuir) Back Row
Andrew Nagle (Jed Thistle) Back Row
Adam de ste Croix (Boroughmuir) Back Row
Murray McConnell (Lenzie Academy / West of Scotland) Scrum Half
Johnny Adams (Aberdeen Grammar School) Scrum Half
James Munro (Edinburgh Academy) Scrum Half
Fraser Gillies (Edinburgh Academy) Stand Off
Jack Bradford (Worksop College) Centre
Michael Crawley (Stewart’s Melville College) Centre
Murray Beckwith (Marr College) Centre
Mark Bennett (Cumnock RFC) Centre
Jamie Urquhart (Dollar Academy) Centre
Stewart Hogg (Hawick Wanderers) Centre
Douglas Day (Paviours RFC) Centre
Harris Jones (Robert Gordon’s College) Back 3
Aidan McCall Hagan (St Aloysius’ College) Back 3
Ross Inglis (Calderside Academy / Hamilton) Back 3

Scotsman article from 1st July:-

Scotsman article link

Public school system provides bulk of Scots under-17 squad


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Published Date: 02 July 2009
A 30-STRONG Scotland Under-17 squad will fly out today for a two-week training camp in Spain.
A glance in the brackets after the names of those selected reveals Scottish youth rugby remains reliant on the public school base, with more than half of the squad coming from that system, but only four players come from another traditional heartland – the Borders.

There are 16 players from private schools – 11 Scottish and five English. Of the rest, six come from state schools and eight from clubs. The regional breakdown is pretty even with Borders (4), Glasgow (8), Edinburgh (7), Caledonia (5) and England (6).

The players, management and support staff will spend an intensive fortnight at the camp in Valladolid, north-central Spain. The focus will be on technical, tactical, mental and physical strength and conditioning. The camp, led by Under-18 coach Grant McKelvey, acts as the transformation period for the youngsters from U17 to the U18 development side.