Highland Stags to hold first rookie days of 2023 as preparations ramp up for new American football season
Highland Stags begin their preparations for the 2023 campaign this weekend with their first rookie days of the year.
On Friday, the Stags team up with RAF Lossiemouth for one session, before returning to Merkinch Nature Reserve in the Highland capital on Sunday.
Rookie days double up as a refresher of the basics for experienced players, while also giving people who have never played American football before the chance to try it out.
Club general manager Tom Hutchison says they have proven to be valuable in the past, which is why the number has increased from one in 2022 to three this month.
"They are really designed for new and returning players to go through the fundamentals and the basics," he reasoned.
"Someone could turn up and have no idea what they're doing, and we will teach them from scratch.
"At the start of last year we ran one, and we found it was useful. Our experienced players usually come to these as well, so it will be a good mix, but during the season the basic stuff can be overlooked because you're focused on bigger and more complex stuff.
"We found that running the rookie days was a great idea that actually improved our performance later in the year, because they'd had the basics taught to them very clearly.
"We've had conversations with RAF Lossiemouth too, because the RAF have an American football team – the RAF Mustangs – and a couple of our players are involved there and travel through from Lossiemouth every week.
"We're running a joint camp to try and increase our numbers and see if there are any rookies who might be in that area for both teams, because if they are a member of the RAF they can play for the Mustangs too."
Running events over the same weekend in Lossiemouth and Inverness shows the potential scope of the Stags' playing squad.
Every individual will be needed this season too, as after a run to the Division Two play-off final last year the Highland Stags have been moved up into the Scottish Division One.
"We try and have a catchment area as wide as we can. Last year we had a player from Dundee, we've had one from Dunkeld, and one from Wick," Hutchison added.
"We want to try and make it as easy for people to get involved as we can.
"Obviously that has difficulties when you start going so far away – I'm not expecting someone in Dundee to be up for practice every week, so we prioritise games.
"Those guys travelling were a bit more experienced. They used to live in Inverness and played for other teams, and wanted to stay part of the Stags rather than joining a team that's closer to them.
"We have quite a lot of guys in and around Elgin, so that's certainly one area that we focus on to try and improve our recruitment and with multiple people it makes travelling a bit easier – they can car share and might only have to drive through once a month.
"Our playing squad last year was 60-odd, and we've already had over 40 players register to play in 2023.
"I'm sure that as we start back up, we will start to register more with the league.
"We're certainly on track to increase our numbers. We know of quite a few rookies that are planning on coming along to these days, so it's just about working with them and showing them the basics – and hopefully getting them hooked and enjoying it."
