Bowdoin College’s beautiful campus on the coast of southern Maine, home to the oldest women’s varsity rugby program, is where you’ll find Polar Bear Rugby Camp (PBRC), which is gearing up for the sixth year to make a real difference for players and coaches who want to “up their game.”
Polar Bear Rugby Camp is a fantastic place to be in summer. Taking advantage of the great weather in Maine – nicknamed ‘Vacationland’ for good reason – the camp was developed six years ago to fill the need of high school and collegiate rugby players when there were no rugby camps in New England. After five successful seasons and with the growth of youth rugby in New England, the camp welcomed U14 and U12 players in 2016 to great success. Bowdoin’s Head Varsity Women’s Coach and camp director MaryBeth Mathews is looking forward to the challenges and rewards of leading the sixth rugby camp at Bowdoin College this July.
Top coaches from England and Ireland will join college varsity and All-American coaches (Farrah Douglas) from USA Rugby (USAR) to deliver an outstanding experience to a wide range of students. Using player-centered teaching, 1-on-1 mentoring, quality break-out sessions, and games-based learning, Mathews has shown that learning and playing rugby at this camp can be rigorous, mentally challenging, lots of fun and very rewarding.
Proof Positive! Collegiate players who attended in July 2016 had outstanding seasons and were named to several conference all-star teams in fall 2016. High school programs sending small groups of players excelled in their next season, and in one case won their state championship for the first time.
Coach Education • Following two years of coach testimonials, PBRC will include a top level, USAR-endorsed Coach Education Course, led by RFU U-18 Head Coach Russell Earnshaw who is keen to come across the pond and share some of the cutting edge coaching knowledge for youth and age grade players in the game. In addition to small classroom discussions, the course uses the rugby camp for experiential learning and coaching modules. Participation earns continuing education credits for coaches wishing to improve and grow. The size will be limited to ensure quality.
“Five years of consistent player feedback that highlight the camp’s coaching staff and low camper-to-coach ratio, the games-based curriculum, delicious food, and beautiful rugby fields tell the story. The number of returning campers also tells me that all this is working very well,” said Mathews.
Mathews builds in value-added sessions on girls in sport, video analysis, nutrition, strength & conditioning, self-assessment and college admissions. The chance to connect with USAR, college and varsity coaches is another huge benefit.
A unique feature of Polar Bear Rugby Camp is its philosophy of being accessible to a wide range of students. Mathews partners with Play Rugby USA (NYC), Portland Youth Rugby and other state-based and inner-city rugby programs and offers financial aid and scholarship opportunities to well-deserving students.
There is a boys’ and girls’ camp.
“It’s the right thing to do; rugby’s given so much joy and opportunity to me, I enjoy giving back,” Mathews said. “Having students come to Maine and experience Polar Bear Rugby Camp helps their rugby of course, but it also connects them with new friends and different coaches, and broadens their horizons as to what’s possible for them in rugby, at school, and beyond.”
Polar Bear Rugby Camp is currently accepting registrations for the July 13-16, 2017 session. For much more information and contacts, visit http://polarbearrugbycamp.com.