PLAYERS NAMED FOR CHIEFS U18 DEVELOPMENT CAMP
1st July 2009 09:27AM
Forty five secondary school rugby players, representing 14 schools from around the Chiefs region have been selected for the Chiefs Under 18 Development Camp.
The camp's programme is designed to create development opportunities for young players in an environment that allows selectors to compare them with each other before choosing 23 players for the Chiefs Under 18 team to compete in the National Under 18 Secondary School Tournament on Tuesday 14 July.
The camp, to be held at St Paul's Collegiate in Hamilton, starts on Saturday 4 July and concludes with a trial game on Monday 6 July.
The players in the camp will be exposed to high calibre resource coaching, including members of the current Chiefs Rebel Sport Super 14 coaching staff. Areas covered in the camp include speed testing, core skill development, position specific coaching, unit coaching, nutrition education, mental skills education and player agent information.
It is the first time the two Northern Regions teams will be selected directly from within the two franchises in the Northern Region - the Chiefs and the Blues.
The Chiefs Under 18 camp players have been selected from the Counties-Manukau, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Thames Valley and King Country provinces.
The Chiefs Under 18 Development Camp players are:
Backs:
Ross Flint, Mike Martin, Kaperiere Wharewera, (Rotorua Boys High School); Kurt Davies, Chauncy Edwardson, Nathan George, Henare Hira-Herangi, Navi Sikivou, (Hamilton Boys' High School); Antonio Lavemai, Charles Piutau, Maamaloa Taufa, (Wesley College); Te Ama Wilbore, Te Hata Wilbore (Opotoki College); Nick Evemy, Jacob Proctor, Andrew Tuise, (Tauranga Boys College); Sean Curry, Josh Thomas, (Reporoa College); Todd Doolan, (Cambridge High School); Telly Hemopo, (St Peter's School); Manus Hanley (Whakatane High School); Gideon Uelese (Te Puke High School).
Forwards:
Laiseni Kakato, Nepe Eri Laulala, (Wesley College); Eli Atkins, Fraser Armstrong, Chad Leem, Nick Ross, Sefo Setefano, (Hamilton Boys High School); Ricoh Flavell, (Reporoa College); Italia Hunt, (Manurewa High School); Sam Van der Valk, (Cambridge High School); Carl Axtens, Sam Cane, Colin Cooper, George Doig, Fergus McCall, Daniel Ross, (Tauranga Boys College); Simon Humble, Fraser Sherson, (St Paul's Collegiate); Bobby Nurse, (St Peter's School); Faifailemu Ah-Tuna, (James Cook High School); Arawa Elkington, (Church College of New Zealand); Henry Kershaw (Rotorua Boys High School); Zion Ropotini, (Opotoki College).
Coach: Paul Williams
Assistant Coach: Sean Botherway
Manager: Jonnie Peter
• Selection of the 23 players to make up the Chiefs Under 18 team will be made on Monday 6 July.
• The National Under 18 Secondary School Tournament will be played at Auckland Grammar on Tuesday 14 July (12.30pm and 2.30pm) and Thursday 16 July (11am and 12.30pm)
• The Chiefs Under 18 team will play the Blues Under 18 team on Tuesday 14 July, while the Hurricanes Under 18 team takes on the South Island Under 18 team. On Thursday 16 July the two winning teams from Tuesday will play each other in the final, with the remaining teams playing off for third and fourth.
Background Information:
Every season a National U18 Secondary School Tournament is held where four Regional Teams compete for the national title in July.
Players must be Under 18 as of 1 January, at secondary school and be eligible to play for New Zealand in order to be considered for selection in the regional teams.
This tournament is viewed as a "viewing platform" for selection of the New Zealand Secondary Schools Representative team each year.
