Brighton College's pre-season rugby tour.

We have just completed Brighton College's annual pre-season rugby camp. Brighton have now organised several pre-season rugby training camps and school rugby tours with Tours 4 Sport under the watchful eye of rugby tours manager Sam Jennings, himself a former England Schoolboys U19 player. Sam accompanied the 70 players and 6 staff to a fantastic sports training facility in Lignano Sabbiodoro near Venice and recounts their stay here.

I arrived in Italy a couple of days ahead of the group, just to ensure everything was in order. We'd been planning the trip for months and had confirmed the itinerary weeks earlier, but we always like to double check. As it turns out, everything was in place, the excellent sports facilities on site were ready and I was able to get on with some other work whilst waiting for the school to arrive.

We had booked flights with BA from Gatwick to Venice for all 72 of the touring party: squads from the U15s, U16s, U18s as well as 6 coaches from the teaching staff and the ex-Irish international Kieron Dawson who helps coach the 1st XV. You get a great view over Venice as you come in to land, and once the group had collected their bags, we had 2 private coaches ready to transfer them up the coast to our training venue. The journey takes just under an hour.

The coaches arrived around 1PM. It took around 20 minutes to get all the boys checked in: we had prepared a rooming list in advance, had collected all the room keys and meal vouchers, so all the students had to do was collect everything from me, drop their bags in their rooms and come back downstairs. The rooms are very similar to student halls of residence: there are 2-4 beds per room, good bathroom with shower, a desk and wardrobes as well as a nice balcony look

ing out over the complex towards the beach.

After lunch we had arranged to do a quick tour of the facilities, to allow the students and staff to get their bearings. The site is brilliant for groups like this: Brighton have a very professional approach to their rugby, focusing not only on rugby technique but also on strength and conditioning, nutrition, recovery and rehab. On site here we have a huge grass rugby pitch, a full size 3G football pitch, 2 outdoor lane swimming pools as well as a leisure pool, a gym with an excellent range of weights equipment - enough for a professional rugby squad strength workout, indoor 50m and 25 pools, 5 a side, tennis and basketball courts and a long stretch of private, sandy beach which includes several beach volleyball courts.

Once we'd finished the site tour, we went over the road to the grass pitch for the first training session: fitness testing and rugby games. Despite being up since 4AM and now training in around 27 degrees sunshine, the lads performed well; most had clearly been following the summer conditioning programmes they had been given.

We used a format which worked well over the next few days. Everyone would meet at 7:15 outside our accommodation building, stroll over to the huge restaurant buildings for a 7:30 breakfast, then nip back to get ready for morning training, which would take place over on the grass pitches. The space there is excellent: there was plenty of room for all 3 age groups to run their own sessions, allowing the coaches to switch between groups. This allowed Nick, the head of rugby to get a good overview of how his other coaches were working, and also made it easy for Keiron, someone who the players obviously look up to, to divide his time amongst each of the groups. Unlike on the 3G pitch, there are proper rugby posts on the grass pitch, so it's the best place for the kickers to practice as well. We would then head back for lunch (generally a selection of 2 meat portions, 2 pasta portions and 2 veg portions), and have time for a quick coffee at the bar just outside our accommodation to run through the afternoon arrangements.

The afternoon generally started with a different session for each of the 3 age groups: we had an outdoor pool, the full size 3G pitch and the gym all reserved, so each age group would get to do a session in each over the next 3 days. This was great for the students because they got some very specific coaching. In the gym, the older boys did a tough core stability session as well as strength tests which the professional clubs use - Kieron was invaluable here - and had an opportunity to use the 6 lifting platforms for a power session, whilst the younger boys had an introduction to the basic olympic lifts as well as advice on nutrition. The gym pictures haven't come out too well, but we have some video footage as well if you're thinking of using it and want to see more.

We could have used the grass pitch again rather than the 3G pitch, but the artificial surface is right in the middle of the complex which means you generally get a few interested spectators. Also, the pitch is fenced in, which makes it feel much smaller than the grass area, and i'm sure helps the lads to concentrate a little more. Plus it's always useful to change their training environment a little, it helps to keep them focused and motivated. The sessions on here tended to be based on skills or team tactics rather than contact based, which we did over on the grass.

The swimming pools were also very useful for the group. Over the course of the week they were

used for cardio, recovery and leisure. Staff ran circuit training in and around the pool, the students did light swimming and jogging in the water, and a couple of the staff did some excellent poolside pilates sessions to help the students work on their flexibility and core stability. And to help the students relax - as well as providing a team building opportunity - one of the week's highlights was the impromptu U18s synchronised swimming competition! We didn't use the indoor pools at all as the outdoor ones were all we needed, but swimming training camps would obviously be able to make use of the 50m and 25m indoor pools.

Whenever I work with Brighton, i'm always impressed by the breadth of their sporting education: they will inevitably produce some outstanding rugby players, but that isn't the sole aim. All the participating students are given good advice and tuition on lots of other sports science: strength, flexibility, core stability, nutrition, recovery, psychology, team work and more. This venue is perfect for them because it has facilities to cater for every aspect of

this education in a warm, enjoyable environment.

We tended to finish the day's training with another session out on the grass pitch before walking down to the beach with the students. The shallow waters and on-duty lifeguards makes a cool-down in the sea a great end to the day for the students.

Dinner was generally arranged for around 7:30, after which we would walk back to the outdoor bar next door to the rooms for a coffee. There are plenty of families and young groups on the site, which is a very safe environment, and the boys would throw a ball around for up to an hour after dinner before heading off to bed.

The time on the beach and on-site after dinner was good for the boys to socialise together away from the rugby field, but we had also planned for a couple of leisure activities to provide a break from the training regime. One afternoon we walked up to the waterpark, where we had organised for a group discount in advance. The walk was about 20 minutes, and well worth it once we arrived. There are a wide range of slides, including a few very fast ones, and even the staff enjoyed a race or two. For the more sedate there is a wave pool, plenty of sun loungers and a cafe as well. We spent 3 or 4 hours here, and that was about enough. It was an enjoyable, and well deserved, break for the players.

The final training day was capped with a large beach-volleyball tournament. The fine sand on the beach is perfect for volleyball, and there must be 10 courts next to one another. We had reserved courts in advance and organised half a dozen volleyballs. The staff team, including volleyball regular Mr Frier, of course went undefeated and were duly named as champions, but it was great to see students from across the age groups combining in the other teams; it was really noticeable how the age groups grew closer to one another over the course of the week; a team-spirit which I know the staff are eager to encourage.

After our final dinner the staff and students all took a walk into the town together. The complex is between 5 and 10 minutes' walk into the centre of Lignano Sabbiadoro, a very pleasant and family-friendly tourist town. We stopped at a gelateria to treat ourselves to an end-of-tour ice cream, took a walk around the main square and pedestrianised shopping street before heading back to bed.

The final morning starts early, with a 6AM beach run, another team-building exercise which staff and students did together. This is another opportunity to encourage the players to work together, but also to realise the commitment required to succeed; they could have quite easily stayed in bed, but that would have been the 'easy option'.

After the run there was time to get changed and have breakfast. I collected the keys and saw the guys off on their private coach transfers over to Venice airport again before making my own way back to the UK later that day.

As ever, good luck to all Brighton's rugby teams this season, and we look forward to seeing you next time.

Tours4 organise pre-season sports training camps in venues around the UK and Europe which have been specially selected for schools' sporting and budgetary requirements. Contact us on 0800 043 3887 or email info@tours4.com to discuss your requirements.