There has been plenty happening amongst the Athlete Development Program in Term 2, but none better than its trip out to “Tiger Land” on Punt Road.
The students were very keen to get to the Richmond Football Club and get an insight into how an elite organisation operates. The ADP was extremely fortunate to watch a closed training session which means we had exclusive access to the players and staff. We got an up close view at how hard these athletes work at training and the lengths they go to maintain their fitness. After training a lot of the tigers players made their way over to our students to have a chat and sign autographs, some even posing in a photo with our students after we were let onto the ground. The up and coming superstar Daniel Rioli was one who gave up a lot of his time for our students.
After training we very lucky to have the Head of Coaching Tim Livingstone give up his time to chat to the students about his role, the players schedules and training, game day preparation and recovery and what it takes to be an elite athlete. Our students soaked this information up and had plenty of great questions for Tim at the end.
From here we had a tour of the gym facilities and the players chill out area where we found Captain Trent Cotchin and superstar Dustin Martin playing a game of table tennis. It was great to see firsthand the quality of the equipment that these athletes use and the lengths they go to to stay match fit.
From here we had former Richmond Coach Jeff Gieschen take us around the MCG and the awesome sporting precinct that surrounds.
All in all it was a very positive experience for our students and they walked away from Richmond FC with an appreciation of how hard their athletes train and a Richmond Jumper signed by Trent Cotchin, Dustin Martin, Alex Rance, Jack Riewoldt and Damien Hardwick.