The Under 18 QLD State Youth Girls team travelled to Tallebudgera on the Gold Coast on Friday the April 11 to take part in a three day talent camp.
As a state team we were there to further develop our squad strengths ahead of the up and coming National Championships in Canberra at the start of May.
On Friday afternoon we all arrived at our accommodation at the Tallebudgera Recreation Centre before heading to the Tallebudgera Surf Life Saving Club next door for the our jersey presentation.
At our jersey presentation night Tom Murphy from the Gold Coast Suns was on hand to talk to us about all things footy including pre game rituals, game preparation and his best AFL moment.
Coach of the Melbourne Demons Women’s Team, Michelle Cowan, was also on hand at our presentations to present us with our jerseys.
After a few quick happy snaps we had dinner and went back to our accommodation where we participated in a team based quiz where we had questions asked about our team mates and we had to figure out who that player was.
Saturday morning we were up bright and early and as a squad we went through some body conditioning and insurance under our strength and conditioning coach Haley before a cool dip at Palm Beach.
Mid-morning Saturday we were joined by the 2014 QLD women draft hopefuls who have the chance to be drafted by Melbourne Demons and the Western Bulldogs to play in an AFL curtain raiser to the men’s match in Round 15.
Melbourne Demons and Western Bulldogs coaching staff were at the camp to watch the draft hopefuls and some of the Under 18s players who nominated as well.
Saturday was used as a testing day with all of us being run through our paces with tests that are used in the AFL combine.
The tests included 20 meter sprints, vertical and running jump test, agility, beep test and finally the 2km time trial.
Sunshine Coast Storm Assistant Coach Rachael Anstey who participated in the drafting showed off her fitness levels coming in second in the beep test and then top five in the 2km time trial.
Sunshine Coast Storm Representative, Lucy Thompson, also participated in the testing at the camp showing off her speed and agility in the tests.
After the testing was complete the Under 18 and draft hopefuls split up with the draft hopefuls doing a skill session with Michelle Cowan while the Under 18s did some structural sessions where we split up into our three groups reflective of our positions; forwards, midfielders and defenders.
In those groups we came up with three key points of what we wanted from our unit when we played.
Once we finished with our structures we got ready to attend the AFL match between the Gold Coast Suns and the Hawthorn Hawks at Metricon Stadium.
While we were at the match our Coach Craig Starcevich asked us to complete a task while we enjoyed the match with our three groups.
Our task was to watch three players from our groups positions from the Suns observe how they set up, moved the ball and marked up at certain times of the game.
From the match although it was fairly one sided, as a team we learnt the importance of not dropping your head, marking up, fixing up your mistakes as well as taking on the game.
Once the game was finished we went back to the recreation centre for a well earned sleep after a very long and exhausting day.
On our final day of our camp it was finally game time with the Under 18s taking on the draft hopefuls at Southport.
This game helped us put into practice all that we have done so far at training and also put into practice a full game preparation practice.
The game was a tough affair with the draftees the eventual winners in a tough battle away from the scoreboard around the ground.
The ball moved from 50 to 50 with some exceptional passages of plays and team work.
There were some great marks, tackles and kicks that were show cased and it was great preparation for us for when we go to Canberra.
Photo: (L-R) Lucy Thompson, Rach Anstey (Storm Assistant Coach) and Shannon Campbell (2013 Storm Captain)
Last Modified on 02/06/2014 09:27