The Boys HS All American Camp wrapped up at the change of the years, and coming out of it, Head Coach Salty Thompson is sounding very positive.

“I was delighted with camp,” said Thompson. “The standard of the kids was very high. Usually we get kids who are out of their depth, but this time that wasn’t the case. The players stuck to their tasks, were fitter, and sustained through the training. The effort and focus was superb. I was very proud of them.”

Part of all of that came from new standards. In the past, Thompson had minimum standards on various fitness metrics, but took a page out of the book of USA 7s MNT coaches Mike Friday and Chris Brown, and decided that the minimum was really not good enough. So he upped the standards, making them targets, rather than a more easy pass-fail mark.

As a result, players pushed themselves to be ready.

For example - in the past, HSAA players were required to last at least three minutes doing a plank (suspend your body above the ground in a straight line, using only your feet and your forearms for support). This year, Thompson said there was no minimum, but instead a target of ten minutes. That’s pretty tough to do, but 60% of the players managed it.

“If your expectations are low, then kids will aspire to that bar, but why shouldn’t we expect more?” said the coach. “Why shouldn’t a scrumhalf be super-fit?”

There were still injuries, but they were from running into things (usually other players) rather than players’ bodies breaking down.

“The idea was, why not excel?” said Thompson. “During the fall, playing football should not be an impediment to testing and fitness.”

Thompson has players do jingle-jangles rather than the yo-yo test. The Jingle-jangles - four minutes of 40s - is easier for athletes to do on their own and track on their own.

Some other highlights from camp:

• Players were all fitter, said Thompson, but not necessarily faster. The next phase, he said, will be to get the 7s players speedier.
   
• Several 14-year-olds, including some who were too young for their regional all-star teams, were in camp. Thompson said “why not?” He wants talented youngsters in that environment, and they all held up well.
   
• 21 coaches were in camp, providing an increased opportunity for one-on-one coaching.
   
• Skills are getting better as kids play more rugby at a younger age, but accurate lineout throwing and kicking are still skills that aren’t widespread.
• Height remains a rare commodity. Some of the best tall players are securing college football offers, and that takes them out of the HSAA running. There are good tall players, but not a lot.
   
• The depth overall is encouraging, and in fact, during the final scrimmages at the camp, the U17 group won all of their games, including against the U19 group. The message there, said Thompson, is that returning players should not get comfortable.