Saints Open Door to Revolution
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Several USA Revolution players will join Australian Football (AFL) club St Kilda (the Saints) in their high altitude training camp in Boulder, Colorado this weekend after the team’s arrival on Tuesday. USA Revolution Coach Matt Bishop is pleased that his players will finally have the chance to be involved in an AFL camp being undertaken in the United States.
“The number of AFL teams undertaking high altitude training camps in the United States continues to grow every year and 2012 is no exception with seven of 18 teams making the journey,” Bishop said.
“It is such an exciting opportunity and we’re really looking forward to learning as much as we can from an elite AFL club.”
Teams that have been, or will be, in the U.S. this year include the Lions, Suns, Blues, Kangaroos, Magpies, Bombers and the Saints.
Fortunately, St Kilda General Manager of Football, Greg Hutchison, reached out to the USAFL via LinkedIn.com and invited Revolution players to participate in the camp.
The unenviable task of deciding which players would participate was left to Coach Bishop and his assistants, Denis Ryan and Jason Becker. Players were chosen based on their contribution to the Revolution program over the last three years, particularly 2012, and their anticipated contribution leading up to the 2014 AFL International Cup.
Based on these criteria the players that will join the Saints for the weekend of December 1-2 weekend are:
- Andrew Werner (Minnesota Freeze)
- Bryan Dragus (Los Angeles Dragons)
- Kyle Johnson (Golden Gate Roos)
Current Revolution and Denver Bulldogs player Andy Vanica will also participate given his proximity to the camp.
Assistant Coaches Ryan and Becker will join Coach Bishop in attending the camp to establish a strong relationship with the Saints that will hopefully continue well into the future and result in further opportunities arising down the track.
"It is incredibly difficult to put a value on the opportunity for the players to train with high caliber players, such as Nick Riewoldt, Lenny Hayes, Nick Dal Santo, Justin Koschitzke, Stephen Milne, Leigh Montagna and the like. Also, the opportunity to work under experienced coaching staff lead by Scott Watters is amazing," Coach Bishop said.
"There is no doubt that this opportunity to train with the Saints will contribute significantly to our 2014 International Cup campaign and we won't be able to thank them enough!”
The base location for the training camp is the University of Colorado in Boulder and the Saints have planned open training sessions for the general public. Come and check out the Saints on November 30, December 1 or 8 from 9.30-11.00am.
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