Paul Hill

The transitional season between U15s and U16s Rugby will be extra tough for one group of U16‘s, as they spend part of the summer at Leeds Metropolitan University at an England national training camp.

32 Juniors from the whole of England will take part in the U16 performance camp, and Paul Hill who has been playing his Rugby a Castle Park since the age of 7 will be part of that group taking part in the England U16 Elite performance camp.

Paul has already distinguished himself being selected to play at prop for South Yorkshire, much to the delighted surprise of his Dad Gary.

“Paul playing for South Yorkshire was a huge moment of pride for me” Gary told us “ If he had never progressed past that level I would still have been incredibly proud of my Son. Him moving on to the Yorkshire squad I thought was the icing on the cake or so I thought. I‘m learning that my Son is a hard working and focused young man”.

This year Paul worked hard and progressed on to play for Yorkshire at U15 level, making the starting position of prop his own for 3 games.

The 4 day camp in Leeds runs from the 16-19th August and is looking to focus on overall development of younger players, everything from diet and preparation to in game skills. Speaking to Paul himself he has his own view on what he wants to take from the weekend.

“I think my concentration within the game situation has helped my development so far, what I’d like to do is take the advice on diet and preparation apply it to my preparation.” He continued “I didn’t expect to get the chance to join this camp, but I’m determined to take everything I can from this opportunity.”

As a parting question I asked Paul what he thought had helped him get this chance.

“There are a few things that have helped me get through to playing for Yorkshire and earning this chance. The standard of coaching at Castle Park has helped me lift my game, you spend years with the same coaches and over the years you learn together. I try and concentrate on my game and follow the coaching sessions on the pitch, most importantly though I always try to keep calm and think during a game even during a scrum”.

Hopefully Paul will return from the performance camp with an increased enthusiasm for the next stage of his Junior Rugby, and the coaching team of the U16s will carry on the great work they are doing with their team.