Scotland rugby stars coach strath kids
The Scotland rugby team put some local school pupils through their paces during a training camp in the strath, held ahead of their summer tour to South Africa.
The 31-man squad visited Grantown Grammar School on Tuesday and held another public training session at the new Aviemore Community Centre yesterday (Wednesday) between 10am and noon.
Grantown depute head teacher Ollie Bray said the school had been delighted to stage the two-hour training session on their playing fields.
Pupils even got to take some time out from their normal timetable to watch the squad train and get some advice from the experts.
They were joined by an impressive turn-out of staff and members of the local community.
Mr Bray said: “This was a tremendous opportunity for us, particularly given that the school invests so much time in both boys’ and girls’ rugby, as well as coaching.
“My favourite moment of the afternoon was when our girls’ team, boys’ team, a group from the local primary school and the Scottish national squad were all training on various parts of the school field at the same time.
“It really was quite a sight – and the energy was infectious.”
Principal teacher of PT, Tom Magowan said: “It was great to see the players train. We picked up lots of tips for our own coaches programmes and we were really impressed how the players and their coaches interacted with our pupils.”
As part of the afternoon the Grantown Grammar School girls’ rugby squad were presented with their gold medals for their recent win at the Glasgow Sevens Festival of Rugby.
Scotland team manager Gavin Scott said the three-day training camp was being held in the region to acknowledge the tremendous support the national side gets from the North of Scotland.
The squad will be departing for their quadrangular tournament involving Samoa, South Africa and Italy tomorrow (Friday).