GB Lions report: Senior and Junior trials

The open trial period for the GB Lions team culminated in two trials held in different locations over the Superbowl weekend. The senior team trialists were put through their paces by Coach Mike Callan and his staff at the Filton Academy in Bristol, home of the Bristol Aztecs, Apache and BUAFL's UWE Bullets. The juniors meanwhile traveled to Doncaster and the Balby Carr Sports Facility, the home of the Doncaster Mustangs to take part in the trials with Coach Damien Anderson and his staff.

As was well documented everywhere, it was incredibly cold at both locations, but that didn't stop a large number of potential GB players turning up. In Bristol Coach Callan had over 150 players trying to make a mark and claim their place in the invitationals.

Coach Anderson was also pleased with the 85 players that made it to the junior trials as well saying "It was really cold today and the snow came down hard, but the guys just kept playing harder and faster football. It's days like this you can measure the heart and commitment of your players. The Balby Carr staff have again been great hosts."

In the south, Coach Callan was equally impressed with the effort of the players and staff in dealing with the adverse conditions saying "Although we were competing against the weather on the day, we got a lot of good reps in and a good look at the players." When asked about the talent on display he answered "The coaches and players did a good job of putting their talent on display in the limited time available."

The next set of practices for team GB will be invitiationals based on selections from the players that the coaches have been interacting with over the trial weekends. The invitational practices will be a shared venture hosting both the senior and junior teams at Loughborough on March 17th, May 19th and August 18th.

The junior team will also be preparing for the European tournament taking place from the 7th of September to the 9th in Italy.

Players should start to receive invites within 2 to 3 weeks via the email contacts given at the trials. We at Double Coverage want to wish all the players the best. There has really been some terrific talent on show and the buzz generating around this new generation of the GB Lions can only help push the national program on to great things. 

TIME TO RESTORE THE ROAR!