LAST weekend 35 players from the townships of Jindabyne, Bombala and surrounding areas came together for their final camp in the Inaugural Snowy Mountains Academy.
With the NRL Development team (formerly ARL & CRL) working for the previous three or so years on various projects, come the initiative to formulate an academy for the area.
Players came together in December 2012 with a camp in Bombala before heading to Jindabyne a fortnight later preceding the Christmas break. The last camp was last weekend in Narooma at the Surf Club. These camps were designed to mix Rugby League with fun activities, meet players from around the area and also have the opportunity to mingle with the older Far South Coast Monaro academy players.
During these camps they also had the opportunity to meet and mingle with NRL players both former and current with them speaking about their own quests to the elite level. A lot of these players came from very similar backgrounds as the academy players.
Club presidents David Bruce (Bombala) and Mick Hamilton (Jindabyne) have embraced the concept and with the support of their committees and community have ensured the players have been more than looked after during the program.