Camp Hill WRFC's preparations for life in National Championship One North are getting pretty serious as they acclimatise to a new coaching set-up and their most professional approach to a season's start yet.

With Reece Spee - a professional with National Division One side, Pertemps Bees – as Head Coach and Paul Downes – Bees' Strength and Conditioning coach, also on board, the girls are all a "buzz" hoping the hard work now will pay off over the coming 6mths.

"I took the girls for a session last season as my wife Vanita plays for them and then helped out with some 10s tournaments. I saw the potential and how much they took on board and thought it would be exciting to take them right through from pre-season" says Spee, a New Zealander hailing from Mount Maunganui in the Bay of Plenty.

The kiwi having landed with Bees care of successful stints with Ulster and Belfast Harlequins. he He made a name for himself as a dynamic scrum-half is ensuring his pedigree – having also spent time at home with the Hurricanes development camps – is being well utilised: "awareness and understanding game play, improving skills levels and techniques and installing a good work ethic are my aims for the team this season."

And with Paul Downes' conditioning experience added to the mix, the team are being equipped to respond to the challenge both Reece and their opponents will be laying down: "I have been really impressed, the girls are well organised and give everything they have. I want every team that they play against to know they have come up against a physically strong, fast and motivated team that will dig in and compete for the entire 80 minutes."

Not only that but: "I feel a major role of mine is educating the girls as well as training them. How to look after their bodies, what to do before and after training is just as important as the training they do during the week."

Downes too, comes with a wealth of experience having worked successfully with Bees and further afield with Super 14 team, the Auckland Blues as well as the All Blacks as part of his time with the Auckland High Performance Unit and New Zealand's RFU respectively.

Captain Becci Lewis comments: "Bringing Reece and Paul on board was the next, natural step for us as we look to adopt a more professional approach to performance and player management. As our opponents get tougher and our games harder, every advantage will count – so to have guys of this calibre committed and part of the set-up is a real coup for us and women's rugby we feel."

To follow the progress of Camp Hill WRFC visit http://www.chrfc.co.uk/ or contact Jo Kilby for more information (j.kilby@blueyonder.co.uk / 07708 915779).

Picture – attached in mail, from left to right: Paul Downes, Becci Lewis and Reece Spee.

Labels: rugby