Great Britain U17s Head Coach Michael Davies has expressed his delight after witnessing the continuing flow of talent that is pumping through the youth ranks of Contact football in the UK following the Blue vs. White showcase in Bristol on Saturday.
Davies ran-the-rule over the latest crop of talent to emerge at Under 17s level on the same day as many of his recent graduates represented GB admirably at U19 level in Germany – drawing 16-16 with Paderborn.
“I’m very impressed with what I’ve seen today. There were a few returning players but also a lot of new players – it has been wonderful. The guys that are brand-new made fantastic plays. I’m over the moon with it,” he said. “I think that this type of session is invaluable for them. It’s a game day. They’ve probably never played a full four-quarter game. A lot of them won’t have done this much football in one go.”
“Being out there in the back field as a referee, is good to see what was happening. But also for me to watch the other coaches. Some were play-calling for the first time today. There are guys and assistant coaches that have stepped up to be positional coaches. It was very interesting to see how they have adapted the playbook that we have.”
Players now return to their clubs for the contact season and Davies believes that getting more opportunities to play is the greatest way to nurture the fledgling talent that he bore witness at SGS Bristol.
“When we talk about growing grassroots, this is it. Being involved and getting kids that, they’re 13, 14 years old, and by the time they get up to our under 19s team, they may have potentially played three international games, four international games already. Then they go and play for U19, and by the time they get up to the men’s team, they could potentially have had 5 or 6 international games under their belt. That is experience that is just invaluable,” he added.
