Rugby Academy announces exciting partnership to support elite talent | Newry Times

In an exciting new development for Belfast Met, its Rugby Academy has joined forces with former Irish rugby professional Kieran Campbell.

Kieran is the director of KC9 Peak Performance and a former elite rugby player having performed at international rugby level in both 7s and 15s. 

He was the previous Ulster Rugby Academy Manager, leading a multidisciplinary team within the IRFU Ulster Rugby High-Performance Pathway.

Kieran is now a Senior Assistant Coach at Ealing Trailfinders in the English Championship in England, charged to coach and mentor elite athletes to deliver results in the bid for their promotion to the Premiership.

The new partnership with the college starting this September will see Kieran mentoring Rugby Academy staff, enabling them to coach at the highest level.

The mentoring will include the development of staff goals and how to further their own careers along with how the Academy can offer greater experiences to its student members. 

This upskilling of Academy staff along with their current use of state-of-the-art Sports Science technology and methodology (Hudl Elite Sportscode and STATsports live motion tracking GPS systems) will truly move the Rugby Academy to new levels of student performance in both Academic and Playing achievements.

The students will in turn learn how to use this cutting-edge equipment – all vital skills for their future careers as elite players or sports coaches.

This new training will be perfect preparation for students to progress onto Sports degrees or other Sports/Fitness Industry careers.

On top of this, the Rugby Academy students will have a once in a lifetime opportunity to avail of 1-1 Career Goal Setting and Mentoring with Kieran Campbell.

This would take place five times within one academic year should the students wish to partake of the KC9 programme.

Paul Boyle, Curriculum Manager at Belfast Met’s Centre for Sport, explains, “We are very pleased to announce this new partnership with KC9 Peak Performance.

“This exciting new development will provide a valuable resource for our academy students to realise their academic and sporting potential and raise the profile of the sector leading Belfast Met Rugby Academy.”   

Kieron Campbell, adds, “I’m delighted to be able to support the staff and students at Belfast Met’s Rugby Academy so that they can become the very best that they can be in their chosen sport.

“Everyone during these times needs someone to stand with them to support and guide.

“I didn’t come from a traditional rugby background and met many barriers on my way to forging a career in the game. 

“I was lucky to have a father who did that for me, but many fall because they don’t have the right mentor support.”

More information and how to apply to Belfast Met’s Level 3 Rugby Academy here.

Check out the Belfast Met Rugby Academy Youtube channel here.

Keep up to date with all the latest Northern Ireland Coronavirus / Covid-19 news HERE.

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Posted by NewryTimes News on Aug 13 2021. Filed under Community, Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry