The Junior Gold Program operates in 24 training centres across Australia selecting the potential best young players in the U15-18 year age groups outside of the National Gold Squad. Approximately 750 players will be selected for this program each year. The program is managed and coached by professional coaches from the ARU High Performance Unit and by the Junior Gold Coaching team – an experienced pool of accredited coaches throughout Australia.
Program training centres are located in Sydney, regional NSW, Brisbane, regional QLD, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Darwin. Centres will undertake weekly training through the November-March period and may include joint sessions with other centres to provide greater challenge and awareness.
Players will undertake annual training programs specifically periodised for each stage of the season. Training programs will target:
Rugby skill and game development
- Principles of Rugby
- Core Skills
- Individual/Position and Unit Specific Skills
- Performance assessment (game viewing)
Physical development
- Introduction to Strength (core competencies)
- Introduction to Speed & Agility
- Introduction to Aerobic conditioning
- Introduction to Flexibility
Off field development
- Introduction to Life Skills including Illicit Drugs in Sport Education
- Introduction to Nutrition & Hydration
- Introduction to Injury Prevention
- Introduction to Recovery
Players are informed of their selection in the program through August to October. The training program runs November-March and for U15 year old players may begin with the national Junior Gold U15 High Performance Camp. Additional players can be selected and added to the program at any stage throughout the year. Players may graduate from the Junior Gold Program into the National Gold Squad at any stage during the year.
The training programs will be integrated into school, club and representative programs as best possible. It is the intention of the Junior Gold Program to compliment the various development and competition programs that the players are involved in, not to take them away.
Older players in the program will be monitored and assessed by the professional SuperRugby programs with a view to contracting players into the National Academy and SuperRugby squads post school. All players will graduate into important Colts and Premier rugby programs where they will continue to be monitored and assessed for professional and age team representation selection ie SuperRugby, National Academy, Australian U20s Team, and Australian 7s Team.