Army ready to see what Rays’ recruits are made of
THE Northern Rays are testing the limits of their physical and mental endurance as they look to present a united front for the inaugural Sapphire Series netball competition.
The Rays have come together as a full squad for the first time this week for a fiveday training camp through the 3rd Brigade’s Human Performance Centre.
Head coach Jillian Joyce said players arrived at Lavarack Barracks yesterday expecting a typical strength and conditioning session before they put on an army uniform and spent the night in the field.
The Rays squad is made up of players from Townsville, Cairns, and Mackay and Joyce felt their partnership with the 3rd Brigade was the perfect way to help unite the new team.
“We wanted to take them out of their comfort zone and force them to use each other to react to come out the other side bigger and better for it,” Joyce said.
“They’ve put on the uniform and gone out overnight to the field and really had some of those challenges that will bring them rapidly together as a team.
“We’re showing them the level of intensity that’s re- quired and talking through some psychological strategies that they’ll be able to use in building their mental resilience.”
The Rays will only have a handful of combined training sessions before their season opener in Mackay on June 29, but the coach felt they were already setting a high standard with their fitness testing.
“There’s a little bit of that forming, storming, and norm- ing type stuff. We’ve done some fitness testing, body composition testing, and strength and mobility testing,” she said.
“We want to set the girls up with their individualised preseason programs to make sure we are using sports science and all the assets we have around us.”
The Rays have outlined plans to use technology to overcome their travel demands.