BYU rugby camp sells out quickly

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By MADDIE HECHT

Adding to a year of excitement and success, the BYU men’s rugby program will host its first-ever rugby camp this week.

“We’re excited,” coach David Smyth said in a recent news release. “We’re ready and we’ve exceeded our expectations as far as numbers. And looking at the information here, we have some talented young men coming in.”

The debut of the camp is already set to be a success since the overnight camper slots quickly sold out. The camp is for 13- to 18-year-old boys.

“We’re really excited and grateful BYU gave us the upportunity to host this camp,” said BYU rugby player and camp counselor Chad Harker. “We have a really good turnout for our first year, and we’re hoping it will continue to grow.”

The camp will be held today through Thursday on BYU campus and will feature basic to specialized training over the four days.

The camp will not only include rugby training but will also include strength and conditioning education, as well as health and nutrition wellness for elite athletes.

The coaches and players hope the camp will spark an interest and get children involved in the program early on.

“It’s a good way to get younger kids excited about the BYU rugby program,” said captain Ryan Roundy. “This will be really helpful to start recruiting kids at a young age.”

Campers will spend time with the BYU men’s rugby coaching staff, strength coach Justin McClure, as well as Collegiate All-American players Roundy, Shaun Davies, Harker and Mikey Su’a.

“We’re not only teaching them to be good rugby players but good people,” Harker said. “I hope that we can instill in these kids good sportsmanship and hard work ethic because that will take you a lot farther than a game will in life.”

The overnight campers will also get the chance to meet other campers who are here at BYU as they interact and participate in social activities during the evenings.

The summer rugby camp has been in the works for the past couple of years, and Smyth said he is glad they are finally able to put on this camp.

“We’ve been talking about it seriously now for about three years,” Smyth said. “But just to get into the BYU rotation of camps it’s taken that long. So we’re very fortunate with this being our first year and we hope to build on it.”

 

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