2019/CW20 High Performance Training - Unterägeri

Approximately 40 TS members turned out to what was forecast to be a dreary day on the 18th May at Unterägeri. Fortunately we avoided most of the rain and rumbling thunder for the session.  

The day started with a training match for the Swiss Mixed U15s side training for the Junior Touch Championships beginning in Paris on the 16th August 2019. It was great to see so many of the younger players getting an opportunity to train together and they were well drilled against the senior representatives. After the game, the U15s benefitted from the experience Mike had coaching at the recent World Cup success with a short chat about how well the side had performed after only a few sessions together.  

Next Troy and Mike had a briefing session on the culture and discipline expectations of the more experienced players when involved in local competitions. Key messages were for 'respect' of officials/opposition/fellow players and for individuals to be 'honest' in their conduct as a lack of discipline is detrimental to the game.  

From here, the players selected for Gif went ahead with their preparation with Mike and the remainder focused on defence with body positioning, communication and team work being built through drills to reinforce the concepts. The larger groups received ongoing instruction from Troy and Ian O'Malley which proved that a cohesive defence can even be effective even when operating with less numbers (a lot of 3v2 and 6v5 attack/defence work). The final hitout was a full field game between the Gif team and the larger squad for both sides to consolidate the days learning.  

And all the steps and kilojoules lost were promptly regained by many over dinner in town. Thanks to all who attended, to Ian for providing invaluable assistance and for Jim and team at Zug for hosting a very productive session.  

See you all in Luzern on 16th June…